THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

IN  MEMORY  OF 
EDWIN  CORLE 

PRESENTED  BY 
JEAN  CORLE 


A    HISTORY 


GREEK    AND     ROMAN 


CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 


REV.  A.  LOUAGE,  O.  S.  C., 

PROFESSOR  OF   AXCIENT   CLASSICAL  LITERATURE  AT  NOTRE-DA 
UNIVERSITY,  INDIANA* 


NEW  YORK: 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY, 

649  AND  651  BROADWAY. 
1873. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S78, 

BY  D.  APPLETON  &  CO., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


PEEFAOE. 


HAVING  to  teach  the  class  of  ancient  literature  at 
the  University  of  Notre-Dame,  I  in  vain  looked  for  a 
text-book  for  my  pupils  and  for  myself,  and  could  not 
find  any  thing  which  would  answer  either  my  purpose, 
or  the  programme,  such  as  I  had  conceived  it.  I  found, 
among  the  books  composing  the  classical  department  of 
the  library,  two  volumes,  in  octavo,  by  R.  TV.  Browne, 
on  Greek  and  Eoman  classical  literature.  This  work, 
which  is  deserving  of  much  praise,  was  too  extensive, 
and  not  systematic  enough,  in  order  to  be  given  as  a 
text-book.  The  "  Classical  Dictionary  "  of  Anthon, 
and  the  one  of  Lempriere,  both  works  of  much  eru- 
dition, would  not  answer  my  purpose  either.  I  then 
set  to  work,  and,  taking  the  divisions  of  Browne,  I 
collected  information  from  the  three  writers  named 
above,  and  also  from  some  bibliographical  articles 
found  at  the  head  of  some  editions  of  classical  books, 
accepted  as  text-books  in  all  the  colleges  of  this  coun- 
try, and  composed  the  present  compendium,  which  I 


4  PREFACE. 

give  as  a  "  Manual,"  and  which  contains  the  history 
of  ancient  Greek  and  Roman  classical  literature. 

The  quality  which  I  hope  will  he  found  in  this 
work,  and  which,  in  my  estimation,  is  the  most  im- 
portant, is  exactness.  The  indulgence  of  the  reader  ia 
requested  for  many  deficiencies  in  the  style.  Our 
main  desire  is  to  be  useful,  and  to  secure  for  our 
efforts  the  blessing  of  God. 

S.  K  D.  B. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 

GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 
Preliminaries, 11 

BOOK    I. 

FIRST  PERIOD  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  CLASSICAL .  LITERATURE 
OF  GREECE. 

CHAPTER  I. — GREEK  POETRY  BEFORE  HOMER. 
Orpheus,  Eumolphus,  Thamyria,  Olen,  Chrysothemis,  Philammon 

—The  Muses, 15 

CHAPTER  II.— EPIC  POETRY. 
Homer— Is  he  the  author  of  the  "  Hiad  "  and  the  "  Odyssey  ?  "       .       17 

CHAPTER  HL 
Argument  of  the  "  Iliad," .20 

CHAPTER  IV.— DIDACTIC  POETRY. 
Hesiod,  Arcthras  of  Miletus,  Lesches  of  Lesbos,  Agiaa  of  Trazen, 

Eumelus  of  Corinth,  Strasinus  of  Cyprus,         ....      26 

CHAPTER  V. — ELEGIAC  AND  IAMBIC  POETBT. 

Callinus  of  Ephesus,  Tyrtaeus,  Archilochus  of  Paros,  Simonides 
of  Amorgos,  Mimnennus  of  Smyrna,  Theognis,  Xenophanes  of 
^Elea,  Phocylides  of  Miletus,  Hipponax  of  Ephesus,  ^sop- 
Music  at  that  Period  in  Greece— Terpander,  ....  28 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. — LYRIC  POETRY.  PAQB 

Eumelus,  Alcman,  Arion,  Alcaeus,   Sappbo,  Erinna,   Stesichorus, 

Ibycus,  Anacreon,  Simonides,  Bacchylides,  Corinna,  Pindar,    .      31 

CHAPTER  YII.— PROSE  WRITERS  :  LAWS,  HISTORY. 
Periander,  Pittacus,   Thales,   Solon,  Cleobulus,   Bias,  Chilo,  Cad- 
mus, Acusilaus,  Hecateus, 39 

CHAPTKB  VIII.— PROSE,  PHILOSOPHY. 
Pherecydes  of  Syros,  Thales,  Anaximander,  Anaximenes,  Diogenes, 

Anaxagoras,  Heraclitus,  Archelaus,  Pythagoras,  Xenophanes,      42 

BOOK    II. 

SECOND   PERIOD   OF   THE  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CLASSICAL  LITERA- 
TURE OF  GREECE. 

CHAPTER  I. — DRAMATIC  STYLE:  ITS  INFANCY. 
The  Age  of  Pisistratus — The  Drama — Nature  of  Dramatic  Poetry — 

Tbespis,  Phrynicus,  Chaerilus,  Pratinas,  ....       48 

CHAPTER  II. — DRAMATIC  STYLE:  ITS  PERFECTION. 
,<Eschylus,  Sophocles— Their  compositions,     .        .        .        .-       .   -  81 

CHAPTER  III. — EURIPIDES  AND  THE  LAST  TRAGIC  WRITERS  OF  THIS 

PERIOD — THE  THEATRE. 
Euripides,   Ion,  Achaeus,  Agathon,  Chseremon,  Theodectes  —  The 

Theatre  in  Greece, 67 

CHAPTER  IV.— COMEDY. 

Susarion,  Epicharmus,  Posidippus,  Phormis,  Dinolochus,  Chionides, 

Cratinus,  Eupolis,  Crates,  Aristophanes,          ....       64 

CHAPTER  V.— PROSE,  HISTORY. 
Pherecydes  of  Leros,  Charon,  Hellanicus,  Xanthus,  Herodotus,       .       72 

CHAPTER  VI. — PROSE,  HISTORY. 
Thucydides,  Xenophon,  Ctesias,  Philistus,  Theopompus,  Ephorus 

the  historian  of  Alexander 78 


CONTENTS.  7 

CHAPTER  VII.— PROSE,  ELOQUENCE.  PAGK 

Corax,  Tisias,  Gorgias,  Antiphon,  Andocides,  Lysias,  Isocrates, 
Isaeus,  JSschines,  Lycurgus,  Demosthenes,  Hyperides,  Dinar- 
chus,  Demades 86 

CHAPTER  VIII. — PKOSE,  PHILOSOPHY. 

The  Sophists — Diogenes  of  Apollonia,  Anaxagoras,  Pannenides, 
Zeno,  Melissus,  Empedocles,  Socrates — THE  CYRENAIC  SCHOOL  : 
Aristippus  —  THE  MEGAKIC  SCHOOL  :  Euclid  of  Megara — THE 
CYNIC  SCHOOL  :  Antisthenes,  and  Diogenes  the  Cynic— THE  OLD 
ACADEMY  :  Plato,  Spensippus,  Xenocrates,  Polemo — THE  PERI- 
PATETIC SCHOOL  :  Aristotle,  Theophrastus — THE  STOIC  SCHOOL  : 
Zeno  —  THE  SKEPTICAL  SCHOOL  :  Pyrrho  —  THE  EPICUREAN 
SCHOOL:  Epicurus 99 

PART  II. 

ROMAN  CLASSICAL    LITERATURE. 
Preliminaries,          ..........     109 

BOOK    I. 

THE   FIRST   ERA. 
CHAPTER  I.— PROSE  AND  POETRY. 

First  Essays  in  Prose  and  Poetry  before  Livius  Andronicus — First 
Songs  —  Saturnian  Verse — Historical  Records  — "  Fescennine 
Songs "—"  The  Ludi  Oscii,"  .  .  .  .  .  r-  .  114 

CHAPTER  II.— DRAMATIC  STYLE  IN  THE  FIRST  ERA. 
Livius  Andronicus,  Cneius  Naevius,  Ennius, 117 

CHAPTER  III. — COMEDY. 

T.  Maccius  Plautus,  Caecilius  Statius,  P.  Terentius  Afer,  L.  Afra- 
nius,  P.  Licinius  Tegula,  Lavinius  Luscius,  Q.  Trabea,  S. 
Turpilius,  .  .  .  -.-'[  .'  : ,  fi  /  ,  •  .  .  .122 

CHAPTER  IV. — SATIRIC  DRAMA,  SATIRE. 
M.  Pacuvius,  L.  Attius,  C.  Lucilius, 130 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V.— PROSE,  HISTORY.  PAOB 

Q.  Fabius  Pictor,  L.  Cincius  Alimentus,  Acilius  Glubrio,  M.  Porcius 
Cato  Censorinus,  Ilemina,  Fabius  Maximus  Servilianus,  Fau- 
nius,  Vennonius,  P.  Sempronius  Asellio,  C.  Julius  Gracchanus, 
S.  Fabius  Pictor,  Calpurnius  Piso  Censorius,  ^Emilius  Scaurus, 
Rutilius  Rufus,  Sulla,  Macer,  C.  Quadrigarius,  Valerius  Antias, 
Cornelius  Sisenna,  ^Elius  Tubero,  .  .  .  .  .  .134 

CHAPTER  VI. — PROSE,  ELOQUENCE,  GRAMMARIANS. 

M.  Antonius  Crassus,  L.  Licinius  Crassus,  Q.  Hortensius,  Lenaeus, 

Servius  Clodius,  JSlius  StUo,  Valerius  Cato,     ...        .138 


BOOK    H. 

TEE  QOLDSN  AGE-ERA    OF  CICERO  AND  AUGUSTUS 
CHAPTER  I. — POETRY. 

SECTION  I. —  Writers  of  Mimes  :  Decius  Laberius,  C.  Matius,  Publius 

Syrus, .        .        .143 

IL— Elegiac  Poetry:  C.  Valerius  Catullus,  Albius  Tibullus, 

S.  Aurelius  Propertius,  C.  Cornelius  GaUus,     .        .     144 
IIL — Epigrammatic  and  Didactic  Poetry :  C.  Cilnius  Maece- 
nas, C.  Valgius  Rufus,  L.  Varius  Rufus,  JEmilius  Ma- 
cer, Ovidius  Naso,  Gratius  Faliscus,  Pedo  Albinova- 
nus,  A.  Sabinus,  M.  ManUius,          .        .        .        .149 
IV.— Epic  Poetry:  Lucretius  Carus,  P.  Virgilius  Maro,        .     154 
V. — Didactic  and  Lyric  Poetry :  Horatius  Flaccus,      .        .163 

CHAPTER  II.— PKOSE,  ELOQUENCE. 
M.  TullhiB  Cicero,  Asiniua  Pollio,  Terentius  Varro,          .        .        .169 

CHAPTER  III.— PROSE,  HISTORY. 

L.  Lucceius,  L.  Licinius  Lucullus,  Cornelius  Nepos,  C.  Julius  Caesar, 
C.  Sallustius  Crispus,  Trogius  Pompeius,  T.  Livius  Patavinus, 
M.  Nitruvius  Pollio,  Atteius  Philologus,  Staberius  Eros,  Q.  Cae- 
ciliufl  Epirota,  C.  Julius  Hyginus,  Verrius  Flaccus,  Q.  Comi- 
ficius,  P.  Nigidius  Figulus, 176 


CONTENTS.  9 

BOOK    III. 
THE    SILVER    AGE. 

CHAPTER  I. — POETRY. 

PAOB 

SECTION  I. — Fables :  Phaedrus, 188 

II. — Satires :  Aulus  Persius  Flaccus,  Decius  Junius  Juvenal,     190 
III. — Epic  Style :  M.  Annaeus  Lucanus,  C.  Silius  Italicus,  C. 

Valerius  Flaccus,  P.  Papinius  Statius,  Domitian,      .     192 
IV.— Epigrams:  M.Valerius  Martialis,        .        .        .        .197 

CHAPTER  II. — PROSE,  HISTORY. 

Velleiua  Paterculus,  Valerius  Maximus,  C.  Cornelius  Tacitus,  Sue- 
tonius Tranquillus,  Q.  Curtius  Rufus,  L.  Annaeus  Florus,  .  199 

CHAPTER  III. — PROSE,  PHILOSOPHERS  AND  GRAMMARIANS. 

M.  Annseus  Seneca,  L.  Annaeus  Seneca,  C.  Plinius  Secundus  (the 
Elder),  C.  Plinius  Caecilius  Secundus  (the  Younger),  M.  Fabius 
Quintilianus,  Aurelius  Cornelius  Celsus,  Scribonius  Largus  De- 
signatianus,  Pomponius  Mela,  L.  Junius  Moderatus  Columella, 
Sextus  Julius  Frontinus,  Aulus  Gellius,  Appuleius,  Petronius, 
Lactantius, 204 


APPENDIX. 

Theocritus,  Lucian,  Plutarch,  St.  John  Chrysostom,        .        .        .217 


PART    I. 
GEEEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 


PRELIMINARIES. 

THE  classical  literature  of  Greece  first  engages  at- 
tention because  it  is  the  oldest  in  Europe,  and  has  been 
the  source  from  which  Rome  derived  its  mental  cul- 
ture. Greece  must  be  viewed  in  two  different  aspects  : 
first,  in  its  oneness  as  a  nation ;  second,  in  its  subdi- 
visions into  different  races.  In  every  thing  which  re- 
lates to  Greece,  we  find  a  tendency  to  union,  and  an 
insurmountable  principle  of  disunion  and  division  of 
races.  Each  writer  has  common  sympathies,  but  each 
one  also  exhibits  in  his  productions  the  character  of 
his  race.  Differences  are  found  between  the  loni- 
ans,  ^Eolians,  Dorians,  and  Sicilians.  The  loniana 
show  a  refined  and  energetic  mind,  and  reach  perfec- 
tion in  every  department  of  literature  but  the  lyric. 
The  Dorians  and  the  ^Eolians  show  more  disposition 
to  enthusiasm,  and  among  them  poets  are  found  who 
will  win  the  crown  in  lyric  poetry,  and  in  the  dithy- 
rambic  chorus ;  but  perfection  in  the  chorus  has  been 
attained  only  by  the  Attic  or  Ionian  dramatists. 

Greek  literature  has  been  imitated  but  not  equalled. 
Greek  literature  is  admirable,  not  only  as  presenting  a 


12  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

picture  of  the  human  intellect  in  its  highest  state  of 
perfection,  but  also  for  its  moral  value.  Each  writer 
writes  not  for  personal  glory,  but  in  the  discharge  of  a 
duty,  in  the  performance  of  a  mission — that  of  stirring 
the  religious  and  national  feelings  of  the  Greeks. 

The  history  of  the  classical  literature  of  Greece 
should  comprise  only  the  history  of  the  period  when 
that  literature  reached  its  perfection,  and  consequently 
the  period  of  the  Pisistratfdse ;  but  we  will  here  con- 
sider also  the  period  of  the  infancy  of  that  literature, 
and  divide  this  study  into  two  books.  In  the  first  book 
we  will  examine  the  history  of  the  infancy  of  the 
Greek  literature,  until  the  period  of  the  Pisistratidae, 
about  550  years  B.  o. ;  and,  in  the  second  book,  we  will 
consider  the  period  which  is  called  that  of  the  Pisistra- 
tidse,  which  extends  itself  until  ike  supremacy  of  Mace- 
don  completes  the  destruction  of  the  autonomy  of 
Greece,  about  300  years  B.  o. 

Language  being  the  material  of  literature,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  say  something  about  the  formation  of 
the  Greek  language. 

Two  families  separated  in  the  plains  of  Armenia : 
the  Semitic  occupied  the  south  of  Asia  and  the  north 
of  Africa ;  the  Indo-European  spread  itself  in  the  west- 
ern part  of  Asia,  and  along  the  shores  of  the  Black 
and  Caspian  Seas,  penetrating  into  the  northern  part 
of  Europe.  To  the  Indo-European  race  we  are  in- 
debted for  the  vocabulary  and  grammatical  structure 
of  the  languages  of  civilized  Europe ;  to  the  Semitic 
we  owe  the  alphabet,  and  the  means  of  committing 
ideas  to  writing.  But  while  the  Semitic  race  possessed, 
far  earlier  than  the  Indo-European,  a  phonetic  alphabet 


PRELIMINARIES.  13 

of  such  power  and  perfection  as  to  satisfy  the  require- 
ments of  both  races,  and  to  be  capable  of  expressing 
and  representing  every  sound,  its  comparative  supe- 
riority ends  here.  The  varied  structure  of  the  Indo- 
European  languages,  the  power  of  combination  in  their 
elements,  the  perfection  of  their  grammatical  prin- 
ciples, endow  them  with  greater  capacity  for  forming 
a  widely-diffused  and  extended  literature. 

In  the  Semitic  languages  the  roots  are  few  in  num- 
ber, and  composed  of  only  two  or  three  letters,  and  the 
formation  of  words,  by  means  of  prefixes  and  affixes, 
is  simple  and  in  most  cases  similar ;  hence,  although 
there  are  weight  and  dignity,  there  is  an  absence  of 
that  variety  of  Bound,  which,  in  the  classical  languages, 
falls  so  agreeably  on  the  ear. 

Doubtless  the  Greeks  were  distinguished  by  a  vast 
amount  of  mental  energy  and  subtlety  of  discrimina- 
tion ;  but  it  is  clear  that  the  accommodating  structure 
of  the  Indo-European  languages  was  a  powerful  instru- 
ment to  mould  and  educate  their  mental  powers. 

The  ear,  even  of  the  uninitiated,  is  struck  with  the 
harmonious  variety  perceptible  in  the  Greek  language, 
and  its  fitness  at  once  for  the  loftiest  strains  of  heroic 
and  dithyrambic  poetry,  the  sweet  pathos  of  the  lyric 
muse,  the  rhythmical  character  of  oratorical  prose 
composition,  and  the  simple  familiarity  and  elegant 
perspicuity  of  narrative  and  conversation. 

The  Pelasgi  were  the  tribes  which  settled  earliest 
in  Greece.  They  were  allied  to  the  Iranian  tribes  in 
the  north  of  India,  and  consequently  that  element  in 
the  Greek  language  which  exhibits  an  affinity  for  the 
Sanscrit,  is  the  Pelasgic,  and  hence  the  numerous  re- 


)4  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

semblances  in  words  and  inflections  which  are  found 
to  exist  between  the  two  languages.  The  Hellenes, 
who  occupied,  according  to  the  testimony  of  several 
writers,  and  especially  of  Herodotus,  a  portion  of  Thes- 
saly,  penetrated  farther  into  Greece,  and  mixed  them- 
selves with  the  inhabitants  of  the  country ;  and  the 
Hellenic  element,  being  added  to  the  other,  caused  the 
older  Pelasgian  language  to  be  looked  upon  as  bar- 
barous, when  the  Hellenes,  who  were  an  Ionian  race, 
became  the  possessors  of  Attica.  This  element  of  the 
Greek  language  is  said  to  have  had  an  affinity  to  the 
Persian. 

The  names  given  to  the  different  tribes  of  Greece 
have  been  differently  explained ;  probably  the  way  of 
explaining  their  origin,  by  making  them  come  from 
the  appellations  of  the  chiefs,  is  not  an  accurate  one. 
"We  may  find  a  more  plausible  explanation,  drawing 
them  from  circumstances  of  place,  etc. :  thus,  the  word 
Dorian  comes  from  Tor,  or  Taurus,  which  signifies 
mountain.  The  Dorians  were  the  inhabitants  of  the 
mountainous  districts ;  that  race  emigrated  afterward 
into  Peloponnesus.  The  word  Ionian  comes  from  'Hiwv 
(shore).  The  lonians  settled  along  the  sea-shore,  and 
the  word  ./Eolians  comes  from  Ai6\et$  (mixture) — the 
^Eolian  being  composed  of  the  Hellenic  and  Pelasgic 
element. 

Some  authors  pretend  that  the  Semitic  races  had  a 
written  language  long  before  the  Indo-European  races, 
and  attribute  to  that  circumstance  the  absence  of  liter- 
ature, at  least  of  poetry,  among  them.  It  might,  with 
as  much  plausibility,  be  attributed  to  the  soft  nature 
of  those  people. 


BOOK   I. 

FIRST  PERIOD  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  CLASSICAL 
LITERATURE  OF  GREECE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GKEEK  POETRY  BEFOKE  HOMEJR. 

POETKY  is  the  earliest  species  of  literature ;  it  is  the 
natural  outpouring  of  the  heart.  Prose  requires  more 
intellectual  development.  In  grief  or  joy  we  like  to 
sing.  The  first  verses  were  hymns  to  the  divinity. 
Poetry,  at  the  beginning,  realized  the  definition  of 
Strabo : 

'H  TTOIVJTIKIJ  7ra<ra  vfivrjTi/eq. 

The  first  developments  of  Greek  poetry  were  im- 
mediately connected  with  religion  ;  and  that  worship, 
the  enthusiastic  devotion  of  which  was  embodied  in 
poetry,  was  the  worship  of  Nature.  The  Greeks  were 
inhabiting  a  land  well  suited  to  nurture  and  foster 
the  fancy  and  imagination. 

The  legend  of  Linus,  which  is  found  in  the  "  Lam- 
entations of  the  Bards,"  under  the  heading  of  "At 
Alve,"  symbolized  the  withering  and  perishing  of  Na- 
ture's life  and  vigor.  Hesiod  says  of  Linus  : 


1C  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

Havre?  (j£v  6pr)vov<riv  ev  etKairtvais  re  %o/30t?  re, 
ivov  tcalt\ifoovT€<i  tca\eov<ri. 


The  other  hymns  were  distinguished  by  the  cry  of 
joy,  "  Iri  TLairiovr  Poetry  also  sympathized  with  the 
joys  and  sorrows  of  domestic  life,  and  it  is  clear  what 
were  the  engrossing  subjects  of  these  strains;  they  must 
have  been  the  praises  of  the  gods,  the  melancholy  le- 
gends interwoven  with  the  popular  mythology,  the  ex- 
ploits of  warriors  and  heroes,  the  joys  of  love  and  wine. 

The  names  of  the  first  bards  and  minstrels  who 
occupied  a  high  place  in  the  respect  and  veneration 
of  -the  people,  are  :  Orpheus,  Eumolpus,  Thamyris, 
Musseus,  Chrysothemis,  Philammon,  Olen,  and  some 
others.  Their  compositions  are  reported  to  have  re- 
ferred to  the  worship  of  Apollo,  "  the  god  of  the  sun." 
The  first  four  were  Thracians,  and  very  likely  had  set- 
tled near  Mount  Helicon,  and  the  names  attributed  to 
the  Muses,  or  goddesses  of  song,  owe  their  origin  to 
the  settlements  inhabited  by  these  bards,  and  other 
poets  of  that  remote  period. 

The  most  celebrated  of  these  poets  is  Orpheus,  who 
sang  the  praises  of  Dionysus  Zagrseus  (not  Bacchus,  the 
god  of  wine).  The  worship  of  this  Dionysus  Zagrseus 
was  of  a  pure  character. 

Those  poets  belong  to  the  age  of  fable.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  determine  now  whether  the  fragments 
which  remain,  and  are  attributed  to  them,  come  really 
from  them,  and  even  whether  they  ever  existed  or  not. 
It  is  probable  that  Eumolpus,  for  instance,  which  means 
beautiful  singer,  owes  his  existence  to  family  vanity. 


EPIC  POETRY.  1Y 

CHAPTER  II. 

EPIC  POETRY. 

Homer. — Homer  was  born  in  Asia  Minor,  probably 
near  Smyrna,  on  the  banks  of  the  Meles — hence  the 
name  of  Melesigenes  given  to  him — about  nine  cen- 
turies before  the  birth  of  our  Lord.  The  authors  can- 
not agree  in  regard  to  the  time  of  his  birth.  Although 
seven  towns  claim  the  honor  of  being  the  birthplace 


of  Homer,  we  may  hold  our  assertion  as  a  good  one, 
for,  according  to  3L  O.  Muller,  there  is  no  such  dis- 
crepancy in  these  traditions  as  at  first  sight  appears. 
Smyrna  was  a  colony  of  Athens,  and  it  has  been  the 
mother  city  o£  Chios,  Colophon,  Salamis,  Rhodes, 


18  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

and  Argos.  The  name  of  "  Homer  "  ("0/^7/309)  means 
hostage,  or,  'O  firj  6pa>v  (the  one  not  seeing). 

Homer  is  the  first  who  composed  one  of  those  won- 
derful works,  an  epic  poem,  of  which  few  examples  are 
found  in  the  whole  circle  of  the  world's  literature. 

As  far  as  we  can  ascertain,  Homer  travelled  with 
Mentes,  a  Leucadian  merchant,  whose  name  the  poet 
handed  down  to  posterity  in  the  "  Odyssey  ;  "  he  visited 
Greece,  and  the  Greek  colonies  of  Asia  Minor,  became 
the  tutor  of  the  children  of  Chiros,  and  died  on  the 
island  of  Irus,  at  a  very  old  age.  On  his  way  to  Greece 
he  landed,  sick,  on  the  island  of  Irus.  Some  fisher- 
men's boys  asked  him  the  riddle  : 

"  'Aver  ehofjbev,  \nr6fJL€(T0a,  a  8'  OVK  ehofj^v,  <f>ep6(j£<r0a. 

On  this  Suidas  gravely  remarks  that  he  did  not  die  of 
vexation  because  he  could  not  guess  the  riddle,  but  of 
the  disease  under  which  he  labored  when  he  landed. 
He  was  buried  on  the  island.  The  inhabitants  in- 
scribed on  his  tomb  the  following  elegy  : 


"Evda&e  T7)v  lepav  KefaiXrjv  Kara  yata  KaXtrrrrei, 
rjpcocov  Koo-fiijTOpa  0elovrfOfji,r}pov. 


Since  his  time  it  has  been  believed,  always  and 
everywhere,  that  he  was  the  author  of  the  two  poems, 
the  "  Iliad  "  and  the  "  Odyssey."  Only,  at  the  time 
of  the  Ptolemies,  some  grammarians  of  the  school  of 
Alexandria  pretended  that  Homer  was  not  the  au- 
thor of  the  two  poems,  but  that  the  "  Iliad  "  and  the 
"Odyssey"  had  been  composed  by  different  authors. 
The  question  was  considered  as  a  paradox,  and  gradu- 
ally died  away. 


EPIC  POETRY.  19 

At  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Hedelin 
and  Perrault  pretended  that  the  two  poems  were  the 
work  of  many  poets,  or  bards,  and  that  Homer  was  not 
the  author  thereof.  Heyne  accepted  that  opinion,  and, 
in  1T95,  Wolf  gave  his  "  Prolegomena,"  by  which  he 
tried  to  establish  the  same  theory.  His  arguments  were 
the  following :  The  two  poems  cannot  be  the  work  of 
Homer — 1.  Because  they  were  not  and  could  not  be 
written ;  2.  Since  they  were  recited,  it  is  not  probable 
that  they  were  composed  in  longer  portions  than  could 
have  been  recited  on  a  single  occasion. 

We  might  concede  that  Homer  did  not  write  his 
poems,  though  it  is  doubtful  (Nitzsch),  and  that  con- 
cession does  not  solve  the  question  against  Homer.  In 
regard  to  the  second  argument,  we  may  say  that  the 
poems  may  have  been  committed  to  memory,  and  the 
custom  of  the  Greeks'  listening  to  six  or  seven  trage- 
dies on  the  same  day,  at  the  celebration  of  their  festi- 
vals, shows  that  Homer  might  have  given  the  whole 
of  each  poem  upon  any  of  those  occasions. 

In  order  to  solve  the  question,  we  must  study  the 
work  itself.  Evidently  these  poems  are  the  work  of 
one  man,  if  we  find  in  them — 1.  General  similarity  of 
style ;  2.  Unity  of  plan  j  3.  Consistency  in  the  char- 
acters. But  such  is  the  case ;  then  Homer  is  the  au- 
thor of  the  two  poems. 

1.  In  both  we  find  the  Homeric  verse,  which  is 
peculiar  to  that  writer ;  the  similes,  the  same  dramatic 
power.  The  words  are  the  same ;  the  new  words  scat- 
tered in  the  "  Odyssey "  were  needed ;  the  changes 
in  the  finals  come  from  the  changes  in  the  language, 
which  may  be  accounted  for  by  reason  of  the  differ- 


20  GREEK   CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

ence  of  time  at  which  the  two  poems  were  written. 
The  "  Odyssey  "  is  evidently  posterior  to  the  "  Iliad." 

2.  The  unity  of  plan  is  perfectly  observed  in  both 
poems,  as  we  may  judge  by  the  exposition  of  the  argu- 
ment of  the  "  Iliad  "  in  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTEE  in. 

ARGUMENT   OF   THE   "  ILIAD." 

THE  poet  proposes  to  sing  of  Achilles's  wrath,  and 
its  terrible  consequences  to  the  Greeks.  When  the 
poem  opens,  more  than  eight  years  of  the  war  are  sup- 
posed to  have  passed  away.  Chryseis,  who  has  been 
allotted  to  Agamemnon  as  his  portion  of  the  Theban 
spoils,  is  the  daughter  of  a  priest  of  Apollo ;  her  father 
proposes  to  ransom  her,  but  is  refused.  Apollo,  in  or- 
der to  avenge  the  cause  of  his  servant,  afflicts  the  army 
with  pestilence.  Achilles  calls  a  council,  at  which 
Agamemnon  consents  to  restore  Chryseis,  but  declares 
that  he  will  take  in  her  place  Briseis,  the  favorite  of 
Achilles.  Hence  a  fierce  quarrel  arises  between  the 
heroes,  and  Achilles  refuses  to  take  part  in  the  war. 
He  then  entreats  Thetis  to  prevail  on  Zeus  to  avenge 
his  wrongs ;  she  accedes  to  this  request  of  her  son,  and 
her  prayer  ii  granted. 

Zeus,  mindful  of  his  promise  to  Thetis,  deceives 
Agamemnon  in  a  dream.  A  council  of  war  is  called, 
in  which  Thersites  attacks  Agamemnon  for  his  con- 
duct toward  Achilles,  and  a  battle  is  determined  upon. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  "ILIAD."  21 

This  furnishes  an  opportunity  for  enumerating  the 
forces,  both  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Trojans. 

The  armies  now  meet,  and  Paris  challenges  Mene- 
laus ;  Helen  is  to  be  the  prize  of  the  victor.  Menelaus 
is  victorious,  but  Paris  is  rescued  by  Aphrodite,  and 
conveyed  to  the  apartments  of  Helen.  Agamemnon 
then  demands  the  fulfilment  of  the  conditions. 

Zeus  sends  Athene  to  renew  hostilities,  by  causing 
some  one  to  violate  the  truce.  In  the  disguise  of  Lao- 
docus  she  persuades  Pandarus  to  shoot  at  Menelaus ; 
he  is  wounded,  and  the  battle  begins. 

The  battle  continues,  and  Diomede  is  the  hero  of 
it.  Wounded  at  first  by  Pandarus,  he  afterward  slays 
him.  He  pursues  Aphrodite,  and  wounds  her  in  the 
wrist ;  afterward  he  attacks  Ares,  whom  he  drives 
from  the  field. 

As  Athene  is  the  patroness  of  the  invincible  war- 
rior Diomede,  Helenus  sends  Hector  to  Troy  to  advise 
a  procession  to  the  temple  of  the  goddess.  This  gives 
him  an  opportunity  of  visiting  Paris,  and  exhorting 
him  to  return  to  the  field,  and  also  of  having  an  inter- 
view with  his  wife  Andromache. 

Another  single  combat  is  proposed,  and  this  time 
Hector  is  the  challenger.  Ajax  is  selected  by  lot  as 
the  Greek  champion.  They  fight,  and,  night  coming 
on,  the  heralds  separate  them.  A  council  is  held  at 
Troy,  in  which  Antenor  advises  the  surrender  of  Helen, 
but  Paris  will  not  consent.  The  Greeks  fortify  their 
camp. 

Zeus  forbids  the  gods  to  interfere,  and,  taking  his 
seat  on  Ida,  he  weighs  in  a  balance  the  fates  of  the 
two  nations,  and  by  his  decree  fortune  favors  the  Tro- 


22  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

Jans.  They  assault  the  Greek  camp.  Here  and  Athene 
set  off  in  disobedience  to  the  divine  command,  but  are 
stopped  by  a  message  from  Zeus.  Night  puts  an  end 
to  the  assault,  but  Hector  prepares  for  a  renewal  of  it 
in  the  morning. 

Agamemnon  calls  a  council,  and  complains  of  the 
false  promises  of  Zeus ;  in  his  despair  he  proposes  to 
return  to  Greece.  Nestor  advises  him  to  conciliate 
Achilles  by  restoring  Briseis ;  some  chiefs  are  sent  to 
Achilles,  but  their  proposals  are  treated  with  scorn. 

Agamemnon  cannot  sleep,  and  resolves  to  seek 
counsel  from  Nestor  and  Menelaus.  During  that  night 
Diomede  and  Ulysses  go  to  the  Trojan  camp,  slay  Do- 
Ion  and  Rhesus,  whose  chariot  and  horses  they  capture. 

Morning  breaks,  and  Discord  excites  the  Greeks  to 
battle.  Atrides  distinguishes  himself;  Diomede,  Ulys- 
ses, and  Machaon,  are  wounded  and  leave  the  field. 
Achilles  then  sends  Patroclus  to  inquire  who  is 
wounded.  Nestor  urges  him  to  induce  Achilles  to 
return,  or,  if  not,  to  send  him,  Patroclus  disguised  in 
his  own  armor. 

The  evil  fortune  of  the  Greeks  still  continues.  Hec- 
tor enters  the  camp,  and  the  Greeks  fly  to  their  ships. 

Poseidon  sides  with  the  Greeks,  but  Zeus  continues 
to  support  the  Trojans.  Many  heroes  are  slain.  Hec- 
tor leads  the  assault,  upbraids  Paris  with  his  effemi- 
nacy, and  hurls  defiance  at  Ajax. 

Nestor  goes  to  see  the  bloody  field ;  there  he  meets 
Agamemnon,  who  rebukes  him  for  forsaking  the  field. 
Her6  borrows  Aphrodite's  cestus,  and,  vanquished  by 
love,  Zeus  sleeps.  During  that  time  Poseidon  helps 
the  Greeks. 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  "ILIAD."  23 

The  Greeks  rally  and  rout  the  Trojans.  Zeus 
awakes,  reproaches  Here",  and  sends  Iris  to  warn  Po- 
seidon from  the  field  of  battle.  He  declares  that  the 
Greeks  shall  suffer  until  the  wrath  of  Achilles  is  ap- 
peased. Apollo  then  puts  the  Greeks  to  flight.  Hec- 
tor tries  to  burn  their  fleet,  but  Ajax  saves  it. 

Achilles  gives  his  armor  to  Patroclus,  and  sends 
him  to  the  field.  The  Trojans,  being  deceived,  fly. 
Patroclus  pursues  them,  and  performs  wonderful  feats 
of  valor.  At  length  Apollo  smites  him  on  the  back, 
his  head  grows  dizzy,  his  armor  falls  from  him,  and  he 
is  killed  by  Hector.  On  dying,  Patroclus  foretells 
Hector's  death. 

Menelaus  defends  the  body  of  Patroclus ;  Hector 
takes  his  arms  and  puts  them  on.  Zeus  declares  that 
he  shall  never  return  in  them  to  Troy.  Zeus  now  re- 
lents, and  sends  Athene  to  assist  the  Greeks.  Mene- 
laus apprises  Achilles  of  the  death  of  Patroclus,  and 
bears  the  body  from  the  field. 

The  groans  of  Achilles,  at  his  friend's  death,  alarm 
Thetis.  She  comforts  him,  and  furnishes  him  with  a 
new  suit  of  armor.  He  goes  to  the  fight,  and,  at  his 
very  shout,  confusion  seizes  the  Trojans.  They  think 
of  retiring  to  Troy,  but  Hector  refuses.  Achilles's 
new  shield  is  described.  Reconciliation  between  Aga- 
memnon and  Achilles  unconditional.  Achilles  goes 
to  battle. 

Zeus  permits  the  gods  to  engage  in  the  battle. 
^Eneas  meets  Achilles,  and  is  saved  by  Poseidon,  and 
afterward  Hector  is  saved  by  Apollo.  Achilles  sacri- 
fices twelve  prisoners  to  the  manes  of  Patroclus.  The 
deities  on  both  sides  engage  in  the  hottest  of  the  battle. 


24  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

Priam  urges  Hector  to  retire,  but  he  refuses,  and  is 
killed ;  stripped  of  his  armor. 

The  funeral  rites  are  performed  in  honor  of  Pa- 
troclus,  and  games  are  celebrated. 

Achilles  still  wreaks  his  vengeance  on  the  corpse 
of  Hector.  The  aged  Priam  begs  his  son's  body,  and 
Achilles,  by  the  advice  of  Thetis,  accepts  the  ransom. 
The  funeral  of  Hector  concludes  the  poem. 

The  same  unity  is  found  in  the  "  Odyssey." 

Some  have  supposed  that  there  was  an  interpola- 
tion at  the  end  of  each  poem.  In  the  "Iliad,"  the 
subject  being  the  wrath  of  Achilles,  it  seems  natural 
that  the  poem  should  be  finished  as  soon  as  that  wrath 
has  been  pacified ;  but  the  episode  of  Priam  asking 
for  the  corpse  of  his  son  is  natural,  and  adds  to  the 
beauty  of  the  work.  Homer  could  not  leave  the  reader 
under  a  painful  impression. 

The  subject  of  the  "  Odyssey  "  being  the  return  of 
Ulysses,  the  poem  should  be  over  when  Ulysses  arrives 
at  Ithaca ;  but,  can  we  consider  it  as  a  fault  that  the 
poet  has  shown,  before  finishing,  the  restoration  of  the 
hero  to  his  throne  and  the  punishment  of  the  suitors  ? 

3.  In  regard  to  the  consistency  of  the  characters : 
some  of  them  are  found  in  both  poems,  and  they  are 
strikingly  consistent  with  each  other.  The  characters 
of  Achilles,  Agamemnon,  Menelaus,  Nestor,  Ajax, 
Diomede,  Ulysses,  Hector,  Priam,  Paris,  Helen,  Hec- 
uba, and  Andromache  in  the  "  Iliad,"  those  of  Telem- 
achus,  Penelope,  Euryclea,  Nausicaa,  and  Eumaeus, 
in  the  "  Odyssey,"  are  perfectly  drawn  and  consistent 
throughout.  Then,  Homer  is  the  writer  of  both  poems. 
If  not,  we  must  admit  that  in  a  short  space  of  time  two 


ARGUMENT  OF  THE  "ILIAD."  25 

men  existed  who,  contrary  to  any  thing  that  has  ever 
been  seen  in  the  world,  wrote  an  epic  poem ;  or,  we 
must  admit  another  thing  more  improbable,  that  the 
lays  of  many  bards,  living  at  different  epochs,  being 
united,  have  produced  the  most  wonderful  literary 
work. 

In  conclusion,  we  might  admit  that  Homer  used 
for  the  compositions  of  his  works  many  legends,  com- 
posed in  Asia  Minor,  about  the  gods  and  their  inter- 
ference in  the  Trojan  war,  and  composed  the  "  Iliad  " 
and  the  "  Odyssey,"  and  that  these  poems,  learned  by 
heart  and  repeated  by  singers,  were  at  length  collected, 
and,  with  few  interpolations,  set  in  order  under  Pi- 
sistratus. 

A  few  words  from  St.  Augustine  may  properly  be 
placed  here :  "  Homer,"  said  he,  "  will  have  no  tem- 
ples, nor  games,  nor  sacrifices  in  Christendom ;  but  his 
statue  is  yet  to  be  seen  in  the  palaces  of  kings,  and  his 
name  will  remain  in  honor  among  the  nations  to  the 
world's  end.  He  stands,  by  prescription,  alone  and 
aloft  on  Parnassus,  where  it  is  not  possible  now  that 
any  human  genius  should  stand  with  him,  the  father 
and  the  prince  of  all  heroic  poets,  the  boast  and  the 
glory  of  his  own  Greece,  and  the  love  and  admiration 
of  all  mankind." 

Whatever  may  be  the  opinion  which  we  form  about 
the  reality  of  the  Trojan  war,  we  must  admit  that 
Homer  cannot  be  accepted  as  an  historian ;  but,  the 
picture  which  he  gives  of  the  manners  and  creed  of  his 
epoch  is  extremely  precious.  Homer  did  not  compose 
the  fifty  hymns  attributed  to  him,  neither  the  Batra- 
chomyomachy  nor  the  Margites. 


26  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

CHAPTEE  IY. 

DIDACTIC     POETET. 

Hesiod. — He  was  born  at  Ascra,  in  Boeotia ;  by  de- 
scent he  was  an  Asiatic  Greek.  The  same  sadness  and 
gloom  which  distinguish  the  climate  of  Ascra  from 
that  of  the  coast  of  Asia,  mark  the  poetry  of  Hesiod. 
The  romantic  ideal  of  the  Homeric  age  gives  place  to 
the  stern  reality  of  common  life  and  daily  duty.  His 
description  of  the  lot  of  humanity  is  less  brilliant,  but 
more  true.  Impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  social  evils 
of  his  time,  Hesiod  looks  for  a  remedy ;  his  purpose  is 
didactic  and  moral.  Hesiod  lived  some  time  after  Ho- 
mer, about  900  years  B.  c.  He  borrowed  much  from 
the  great  epic  poet. 

His  works  are — 1.  "Epya  xal  'Hfiepcu  ("  Works  and 
Days  ").  Its  leading  subject  is  the  various  occupations 
and  duties  of  life,  in  its  several  relations,  with  a  con- 
clusion consisting  of  a  calendar  for  the  use  of  agricul- 
turists and  navigators.  2.  A  "  Theogony,  or  a  History 
of  the  Origin  of  the  World  and  the  Genealogies  of  the 
Gods ; "  a  work  important  and  interesting  in  a  mytho- 
logical point  of  view.  3.  "  The  Ecese  "  (MeyaW  'Houu), 
"  77  ofy,  such  as  were,"  a  formula  with  which  many  of 
the  descriptions  were  introduced.  This  work  contained 
the  history  of  the  favorites  of  the  gods.  4.  KaraXoyo? 
TvvaiKcbv  ("  The  Catalogue  of  Women  "),  a  book  dis- 
tinct from  "  The  Eo3se,"  and  containing  the  geneal- 
ogies of  celebrated  women  of  the  heroic  age.  5.  Aairk 
Hpaic\eov<i  ("  The  Shield  of  Hercules ").  This  last 


DIDACTIC  POETRY.  27 

work  is  probably  a  composition  belonging  to  another 
poet.  These  last  three  poems  formed  one  work,  at- 
tributed to  Hesiod,  and  called  "The  Heroogony. " 
The  last  part,  or  "  The  Shield  of  Hercules,"  is  a  frag- 
ment attached  to  it  by  some  unknown  rhapsodist.  It 
is  the  only  part  remaining  of  "  The  Heroogony ; "  few 
fragments  of  the  other  parts  have  been  preserved. 

Hesiod  is  admired  for  the  elegance  of  his  diction, 
and  the  sweetness  of  his  poetry.  It  may  be  said  of 
him,  what  he  was  saying  of  a  poet,  y\vtc€pr)  peet,  av&tf 
(his  voice  flows  sweet).  Like  Homer  he  wrote  in  the 
Ionic  dialect,  with  some  ^Eolisms  intermingled. 

Homer  and  Hesiod  are  the  principal  poets  of  the 
epic  cycle-;  for,  although  we  have  spoken  of  Hesiod  as 
a  didactic  poet,  a  great  part  of  his  writings  possess  the 
epic  character.  We  will  give  here  the  names  of  sev- 
eral writers  who  belong  to  the  same  era,  but  whose 
works  are  lost.  They  are  : 

Arctinus  of  Miletus. — He  has  been  called  a  disciple 
of  Homer.  His  poem  consisted  of  9,100  verses.  He 
related  the  events  of  the  Trojan  war,  following  the 
death  of  Hector. 

Lesches  of  Lesbos. — He  lived,  like  Arctinus,  at  the 
time  of  Archilochus,  in  the  eighteenth  Olympiad,  708. 
He  composed  the  "  Little  Iliad  "  ('IX&i?  MtKpa) 

Agias  of  Trcezen.— -He  lived  in  740,  and  the  ancients, 
referring  to  his  poem,  say :  "O  row?  voa-rovj  ypa^df ; 
hence  we  conclude  that  the  title  of  his  work  was 
"Noa-Tol,"  which  work  contained  the  history  of  the 
return  of  the  Achaeans  from  Troy. 

Eumelus  of  Corinth. — He  lived  in  the  third  Olym- 
piad, and  wrote  a  history  of  Corinth  in  heroic  verse. 


28  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

Strasinus  of  Cyprus. — We  have  a  few  verses  of  a 
poem  from  that  writer,  which  was  entitled  Ta  Kinrpla 
CTTTI  ("  The  Cyprian  Epics  "). 

The  number  of  poems  in  the  epic  style  written  at 
that  time  amounts  to  thirty,  relating  mostly  to  the 
Trojan  war,  the  history  of  Thebes,  and  the  exploits 
of  Hercules. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

ELEGIAC  AND  IAMBIC   POETRY. 

AUTHORS  do  not  agree  about  the  etymology  of  the 
words  "  elegy  "  and  "  iamb."  The  first  deviation  from 
the  heroic  hexameter  took  place  two  hundred  years 
after  Homer.  Callinus  of  Ephesus  was  the  first  who 
gave  the  elegiac  stanza.  It  was  used  for  monumental 
and  other  inscriptions,  " en-^pa^/jLara"  wherever  brev- 
ity of  expression  required  terseness  and  conciseness. 
This  metre,  used  only  for  treating  subjects  breathing 
a  melancholy,  and  also  a  warlike  and  patriotic,  spirit, 
soon  degenerated,  and  Archilochus  gave,  in  that  same 
metre,  the  earliest  specimens  of  what  is  called  in  mod- 
ern times  "  the  Anacreontic,"  celebrating  the  delights 
of  wine  and  revelry. 

The  poets  who  wrote  in  the  elegiac  form,  and  whose 
works  are  almost  entirely  lost,  were  : 

CallinuB  of  Ephesus.— He  lived  about  720  B.  o. 

Tyrteus. — He  was  born  at  Athens  in  685.  We  have 
from  this  poet,  who  had  been  sent,  through  derision  by 
the  Athenians,  as  a  commander  to  the  Spartans,  several 


ELEGIAC  AND  IAMBIC  POETRY.  29 

fragments  remaining  of  his  elegies.  They  are  written 
in  the  Ionic  dialect,  and  are  full  of  enthusiastic  and 
patriotic  feelings.  His  anapaestic  marches  were  written 
in  Doric ;  of  these  only  one  single  fragment  came  down 
to  us.  For  all  the  fragments  from  Tyrtaeus  you  may 
see  the  "  Anthologia." 

Archilochns  of  Paros. — He  lived  in  688.  He  was  re- 
garded by  the  ancients  as  one  of  the  greatest  poets  that 
Greece  ever  produced.  Cicero  classes  him  with  Ho- 
mer, Sophocles,  and  Pindar.  His  best  composition 
was  a  hymn  in  honor  of  Hercules.  He  must  be  blamed, 
however,  for  the  bitterness  and  vindictive  spirit  which 
characterize  his  verses,  and  the  indecency  which  per- 
vades them.  Many  fragments  of  his  compositions  may 
be  found  in  the  "  Anthologia." 

Simonides  of  Amorgos. — There  have  been  two  poets 
of  the  name  of  Simonides.  The  one  mentioned  here 
lived  in  664,  and  was  called  the  'Ia/j,@oypd(j>o<i.  We 
have  only  one  fragment  from  his  writings.  It  is  a 
satiric  piece,  simple  and  elegant,  entitled  "Ilepl  IV 
VCUKWV. 

Mimnermus  of  Smyrna. — He  lived  at  the  time  of  So- 
lon, 594. 

The  Athenian  Theognis  was  born  in  583.  We  have 
many  fragments  of  his  elegies,  in  all  1,392  verses,  which 
were  popular  songs  exercising  a  great  influence  at  the 
time.  Theognis  was  the  poet  of  the  old  aristocracy, 
which  was  crumbling  away  before  the  growing  power 
of  the  wealthier  commons,  led  by  some  influential  citi- 
zen, called  in  Greece  "  tyrant."  Theognis  lived  at  the 
time  of  the  thirty  tyrants. 

The  last  two  were  Xenopaanes  of  .ZElea,  the  founder 


30  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

of  the  ^Eleatic  school  of  philosophy  (540),  and  Pho- 
cylides  of  Miletus,  whose  compositions  are  all  introduced 
by  the  words,  "  And  this,  too,  is  Phocylides." 

Kal  roSe  $Q)Kv\i8e(i>.    Aeptot  tea/col,  OVK  6  /JAV,  09  S'  ov, 
Havre?  Tr\r)v  ZI/3Otf\eov9,  Kal  IIpoK\er}<;  Aepios. 

The  iambic  verse  was  invented  by  Archilochus  of 
Paros.  One  characteristic  of  iambic  verse  is  rapidity ; 
it  is  well  suited  for  repartee  and  satire. 

"  Archilocum  proprio  rabies  armavit  iambo," 
says  Horace ;  and  again — 

"  In  celerea  iambos  misit  furentem." 

The  iambic  verse  became  one  of  the  elements  of  the 
Attic  drama.  Archilochus  was  not  only  an  iambic 
poet — we  have  seen  that  he  wrote  elegies.  He  is  also 
the  inventor  of  the  '.ETrcoSo?,  so  well  imitated  by  Hor- 
ace. We  may  see  that  Greek  poetry  is  progressing  in 
the  development  of  its  form,  and  reaching  maturity  in 
lyric  poetry.  The  first  writers  in  iambic  poetry  were, 
besides  Archilochns  and  Simonides,  of  whom  we  have 
spoken  : 

Hipponax  of  Ephesus,  the  inventor  of  the  choliambic 
or  lame  iambic,  because  the  last  foot  was  a  spondee ;  and 
2Esop,  born  in  620,  according  to  some  authors,  whose 
fables  exist  and  are  much  known :  he  was  probably  a 
slave,  and  lived  at  the  time  of  Croesus,  and  at  the  court 
of  that  prince.  Anthon  pretends  that  ^Esop  did  not 
write  fables ;  compositions  of  that  nature  were  written 
by  many  poets,  who  handed  them  down  by  tradition, 
and  they  were  collected  afterward.,  as  it  has  been  done 


LYRIC  POETRY.  31 

by  Demetrius  Phalereus,  in  150,  and  by  Babrius,  in 
150  B.  o.  It  is  useless  to  relate  here  the  narrative  of 
Plutarch  concerning  the  death  of  ^Esop,  since  we  may 
seriously  doubt  whether  ^Esop  has  ever  existed.* 


CHAPTEK  VI. 

LYBIC  POETRY. 

LYBIC  poetry  is  the  outpouring  of  the  human  heart, 
when  inspired  either  by  religion  or  love.  The  former 
characterizes  the  lyric  of  the  Dorians,  the  latter  that 
of  the  JEolians.  The  choral  lyric  of  the  Dorians  was 
eminently  fitted  for  solemn  and  sacred  subjects  ;  for 
accompanying  the  dignified  march  of  the  priests,  and 
the  cheerful  dance  of  the  assistant  band  of  youths  and 


*  Mnsic  was  imperfectly  known  in  Greece.  The  word 
(harmony)  did  not  mean  at  that  time  what  it  meant  since  ;  it  was 
simply  the  art  of  melody,  that  is,  the  singing  with  two  voices 
separated  by  one  octave,  the  natural  distance  between  the  pitch 
of  a  female  voice  and  of  a  male  voice.  Until  648  they  had  only 
the  lyre  tetrachord,  making  the  distances  one-fourth.  Terpander, 
a  native  of  Lesbos,  was  the  inventor  of  the  real  science  of  har- 
mony, and  introduced  in  the  lyre  three  more  chords.  This  new 
compass  was  called  Ata  Traoov  through  all  the  sounds.  He  is  the 
first  who  adapted  melodies  to  the  national  lays  of  the  Lace- 
demonians. 

MePxif  irp&Tog  vepi£6)jKe  rolg  iroifiuaffi) 
Kai  ro(if  AaKedattioviov  v6ftovg  epeZoTrotqae. 

Terpander  may  be  considered  as  the  founder  of  Greek  mu- 
sical science,  and  he  flourished  just  at  the  time  when  lyric  poetry 
was  developing  itself. 


32  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

virgins,  while  the  ^Eolian  measures  and  dialect  were 
more  suitable  to  express  human  sentiment  and  passion. 
The  deities,  in  whose  honor  choral  odes,  accompanied 
with  music  and  dancing,  were  sung,  were  Apollo  and 
Bacchus.  The  earliest  choral  song  was  the  "  Paean," 
a  song  of  joy,  as  it  is  evinced  by  the  exclamation  "Itf" 
which  precedes  it. 

The  other  choral  songs  were:  (voftot)  the  nomes, 
lyric  hymns  in  honor  of  Apollo  ;  (inrop^fiara)  the 
hyporcheines,  songs  accompanying  the  pantomimic 
dances,  which  bore  the  same  name;  (irapBevia)  the 
parthenia,  modest  songs  sung  by  young  virgins  ;  (irpo- 
a-oSta)  hymns  sung  as  the  procession  of  priests  marched 
toward  the  altar;  (Si0vpafi^o<i)  the  dithyramb  was  a 
poem  in  honor  of  Dionysus.  It  has  been  the  germ  of 
the  choral  element  in  Attic  tragedy.  The  authors  do 
not  agree  about  the  etymology,  but  probably  it  comes 
from  Aios  and  Ovpa-os.  The  thyrsus  was  emblematic 
of  Dionysus  wrapped  in  ivy. 

The  distinction  between  the  two  schools  cannot  be 
maintained  when  treating  of  convivial  poetry,  for  poems 
of  this  kind  were  written  both  by  ./Eolians  and  Do- 
rians. Those  compositions  were  called  <r/co\la.  ;  these 
songs,  which  enlivened  the  banquet,  were  sometimes 
joyous  and  voluptuous,  and  not  unfrequently  coarse 
and  licentious. 

We  may  give,  as  an  example  of  this  species  of  com- 
position, the  two  following  stanzas  from  two  scholia 
of  Simonides  the  Younger  : 


&v  l<rrlv  avSp&v 
IIplv  yevea-ffcu  r 


LYRIC  POETRY  S3 


npovofjcrat  cfona?  /J,TJ 

'AvSpetav  Se,  yevopeva  ev  Oeaffai. 

'Tyialvetv  fiev  apiffrov  avSpi  dvarS) 
Aevrepov  Se,  tca\ov  (frvav  yeveo'dat 
To  rpLrov  Be,  7r\ovTeiv  aSoXo?  • 
Kal  TO  riraprov,  rjftav  pera  T&V 

To  these  compositions  we  must  add 
the  epithalamia,  songs  which  were  sung  at  marriages 
in  honor  of  the  bride. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  lyric  poets  of 
that  period.  Nine  of  them  were  placed  by  the  Alex- 
andrian grammarians  in  their  canon,  and  they  are 
designated  here  by  the  numbers  placed  before  their 
names  : 

Eumelus,  born  at  Corinth,  in  768  ;  he  was  certainly 
the  author  of  a  lyric  composition,  a  prosodion,  in  honor 
of  Apollo. 

1.  Alcman,  born  in  671,  at  Sardis  ;  he  was  brought 
as  a  slave  to  Sparta.     He  wrote  many  parthenia  ;  in 
all,  he  composed  six  books  of  poems,  but  the  few  frag- 
ments which  remain  scarcely  allow  us  to  judge  how 
far  he  deserves  the  great  reputation  which  he  acquired. 
Some  of  his  verses,  however,  display  a  true  poetical 
spirit.     (See  the  "  Anthology.") 

Arion  was  a  native  of  Lesbos  ;  he  lived  in  628,  and 
is  very  likely  the  inventor  of  the  dithyramb.  He 
drowned  himself,  his  life  being  threatened  by  the  sail- 
ors, while  he  was  returning  to  Corinth 

2.  Aleseus  was  born  at  Mytilene,  in  610.   The  strug- 
gle between  aristocracy  and  democracy,  which  was  the 
curse  of  Greece  at  that  time,  obliged  him  to  leave  his 


34  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

country.  The  few  fragments  of  Alcaeus's  compositions 
show  a  lofty  character,  a  great  conciseness  of  style,  and 
clearness  of  images.  Alcaeus  was  the  inventor  of  the 
metre  that  bears  his  name,  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
and  melodious  of  all  the  lyric  measures.  Horace  im- 
itated Alcaeus  in  his  best  compositions.  He  wrote : 

1.  Hymns,  relating  legends  of  the  gods ;  2.  Songs  of 
love  and  wine;    3.  Party-songs.     Horace  took  from 
him  the  subjects  of  his  fourteenth  and  thirty-seventh 
odes,  first  book. 

3.  Sappho,  a  woman  of  Lesbos,  living  in  610,  of  the 
liveliest  fancy  and  most  ardent  passions.  She  was 
much  calumniated,  and,  very  likely,  through  jealousy. 
She  wrote  hymns  and  epithalamia.  She  has  been  im- 
itated by  Horace,  in  his  lighter  and  softer  poems.  Her 
life,  like  that  of  many  other  Lesbian  women  of  talent 
and  refinement,  was  passed  in  literary  pursuits;  in  the 
midst  of  a  circle  of  female  friends  and  pupils  of  her 
own  sex.  Besides  elegies  and  iambics,  she  wrote  nine 
books  of  lyric  poems,  and  invented  the  plectrum.  All 
that  has  reached  us  of  her  compositions  consist  of:  1. 
A  beautiful  ode  to  Yenus,  in  the  Sapphic  measure ; 

2.  A  second  ode  in  the  same  measure,  and  still  more 
beautiful,  a  description  of  the  tumultuous  emotions  of 
love;    3.    Various  fragments,  all   unfortunately  very 
short,  found  in  Aristotle,  Plutarch,  Athenseus,   and 
others ;  4.  Three  epigrams. 

The  authors  do  not  agree  about  her  death,  but  she 
killed  herself  by  a  leap  from  the  Leucadian  promontory. 
The  following  is  the  epigram  extant  in  her  honor : 

'Evvea  ras  Movcras  fyaarlv  rtz/e?  •  o>9 
l  ^aTrfoa  Ae<rf360ev  77 


LYRIC  POETRY.  35 

Erinna,  born  at  Khodes,  in  610 ;  she  was  a  friend  of 
Sappho,  and  a  very  distinguished  poetess,  but  she  wrote 
rather  in  the  epic  style.  She  has  been  surnamed  the 
"  Bee,"  on  account  of  the  sweetness  of  her  verse.  Only 
four  lines  remain  of  her  "  Distaff." 

4.  Stesichorus. — He  was  born  at  Hiraera  (Sicily),  in 
632,  and  died  in  560.     Some  traditions  make  him  a 
son  of  Hesiod,  and  it  is  easy  to  explain  that  apparent 
anachronism,  for,  like  the  Homerides,  we  have  the  He- 
siodides — they  were  the  admirers  of  Hesiod,  who  af- 
fected the  title  of  sons  of  that  poet.     Stesichorus  was 
the  first  who  adapted  epic  subjects  to  lyric  verses ;  he 
was  the  first  also  who  invested  the  bucolic,  or  pastoral, 
with  a  classical  character.     He  has  been  imitated  by 
Theocritus,  and  in  later  times  by  Virgil,  who  gave  to 
these  compositions  a  didactic  form.     Stesichorus  be- 
longed to  a  Dorian  family  established  in  Sicily,  and, 
as  we  may  see,  the  bucolic  has  a  Dorian  origin  as  far 
as  its  classical  character  is  concerned,  for  it  is  impos- 
sible to  discover  who  used  it  for  the  first  time. 

5.  Ibycus,  a  native  of  Ehegium,  born  in  540.     A 
tradition  relates  that  he  was  slain  by  robbers,  and  his 
death  avenged  by  cranes ;  nothing  is  left  of  his  poems. 

6.  Anacreon  was  born  at  Teos,  in  540,  and,  soon 
after  his  birth,  his  family  migrated  to  Abdera.     He 
was  a  sensualist,  and  his  poems,  like  those  of  a  band 
of  poets  who  lived  at  the  court  of  Hipparchus,  were 
all  voluptuous  and  sensualistic.     He  died  at  the  age 
ol  eighty-five  years,  very  likely  by  accident. 

7.  Simonides,  born  at  Ceos,  in  556.     He  was  the 
grandson  of  the  elegiac  poet  of  the  same  name.     He 
spent  many  years  at  the  court  of  Hipparchus,  and  was 


36  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

a  good  lyric  poet,  but  inferior  to  Pindar.  He  is  unri- 
valled for  the  neatness  and  elegance  of  his  epigrams  ; 
he  composed  many  epitaphs,  some  of  which  have  been 
preserved,  and  one  of  them  is  well  known  to  every 
reader  of  Thucydides.  Several  elegies  of  Simonides 
may  be  seen  in  the  "  Anthology  ;  "  they  were  used  as 
plaintive  songs  for  the  death  of  individuals.  In  those 
pieces  the  poet  laments,  with  heart-felt  pathos,  the  death 
of  persons  dear  to  him  ;  among  these  are  the  beautiful 
verses  concerning  Gorgo,  who,  while  dying,  utters  these 
words  to  her  mother  :  "  Remain  here  with  my  father, 
and  become,  with  a  happier  fate,  the  mother  of  another 
daughter,  who  may  tend  thee  in  thy  old  age."  What 
may  be  added  to  the  credit  of  Simonides  is,  that  he  was 
victorious  at  Athens,  over  ^Eschylus,  in  an  elegy  in 
honor  of  those  who  fell  at  Marathon.  Simonides  was 
surely  a  great  master  of  the  pathetic. 

8.  Bacchylides.  —  He  was  born  also  at  Ceos,  and  lived 
at  the  court  of  Hiero,  with  Simonides  and  Pindar.  His 
lyrics  were  much  appreciated  for  their  ethical  value, 
and  exhibited  polish,  correctness,  and  delicacy,  but  not 
the  fire  of  fervor  of  Pindar.  Let  us  take,  among  sev- 
eral fragments  preserved  in  the  "  Anthology,"  the  fol- 

lowing '. 

AvSta  fj,€v  yap  \i0os 

Mavvei  %pva-6v  • 
'AvSpwv  8'  dperrjv 
Socfrtav  TC  TrayKparr)? 


Corinna  was  born  at  Thebes,  and  was  living  at  the 
time  of  Pindar.  She  was  distinguished  for  her  skill 
in  lyric  verses,  and  remarkable  for  her  personal  attrac- 


LYRIC  POETfiy.  37 

tions.  While  Pindar  was  still  a  young  man  she  was 
his  rival,  and  gained  the  victory  over  him  no  less  than 
five  times.  She  has  been  surnamed  "  the  Fly  "  (Mvia). 
Too  few  fragments  are  extant  of  her  writings,  in  order 
to  form  a  correct  judgment  of  her  abilities  as  a  lyric 
poetess. 

9.  Pindar. — The  independent  existence  of  Dorian 
lyric  poetry  ceased  with  this  poet.  The  drama  com- 
menced with  ^Eschylus.  Although  Pindar  belongs  to 


the  first  period,  the  time  in  which  he  lived  was  well 
fitted  for  the  development  of  his  genius.  Athens  and 
Greece  had  reached  the  climax  of  power,  and,  of  course, 
of  pride. 

Pindar  was  born  at  Cynocephalas,  a  village  near 
Thebes,  in  517.  He  went  early  to  Athens.  His  tenth 
"  Pythian,"  written  in  502,  when  he  was  only  fifteen 
years  old,  spread  widely  his  reputation.  After  having 


38  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

spent  four  years  at  the  court  of  Hiero,  that  great  friend 
of  poets,  he  came  back  to  Greece  and  lived  at  Thebes, 
where  he  died,  at  the  age  of  eighty.  Pindar  is  un- 
doubtedly the  greatest  lyric  poet  of  Greece.  He  wrote 
every  kind  of  lyric  songs ;  his  way  of  treating  a  sub- 
ject was  very  peculiar ;  no  one  could  develop  his  ideas 
more  beautifully,  and  his  odes  contain  many  moral  con- 
siderations. They  are  the  only  compositions  extant ; 
they  are  admired  for  sublimity  of  sentiments,  grandeur 
of  expression,  energy  and  magnificence  of  style,  bold- 
ness of  metaphors,  harmony  of  numbers,  and  elegance 
of  diction.  We  have,  remaining  at  the  present  day, 
forty-five  of  the  "Epinicia,"  or  triumphal  odes,  to- 
gether with  some  few  fragments  of  his  other  produc- 
tions. The  "  Epinicia "  are  divided  into  four  classes, 
or  kinds,  and  derive  their  names  respectively  from  the 
four  great  games  of  Greece.  Thus  we  have :  1.  "  Olym- 
pic Odes,"  to  the  number  of  fourteen ;  2.  "  Pythian 
Odes,"  to  the  number  of  twelve ;  3.  "  Nemean  Odes," 
eleven  in  number;  and,  4.  "  Isthmian  Odes,"  amount- 
ing to  eight.  The  following  criticism  of  Pindar  is 
found  in  Horace : 

"Monte  decurreng  velut  amnis,  imbres 
Quern  super  notas  aluere  ripas, 
Fervet,  immensusque  ruit  profundo 

Pindarus  ore."  — Ode  iv.,  2. 

In  the  opening  of  this  ode,  Horace  says  that  Pin- 
dar's powers  defy  imitation  or  rivalry  : 

"  Pindamm  quisqnis  studet  fflmulari, 
Inle,  ceratis  ope  Daodalea 
JSititur  pennis,  vitreo  daturas 

Nomina  poiito."  — Ode  iv.,  2. 


PROSE  WRITERS:  LAWS— HISTORY.  39 

CHAPTEE  VII. 

PEOSE   WRITERS  :    LAWS — HISTORY. 

POETRY  constituted  the  only  literature  in  the  period 
of  mingled  rudeness  and  refinement  which  lies  between 
barbarism  and  advanced  civilization.  It  is  the  natural 
language  of  the  heart  and  imagination,  and  it  recog- 
nizes no  artificial  limitations.  Prose  writing,  on  the 
contrary,  requires  a  greater  ripeness  of  intellect  and 
language.  Some  subjects  cannot  be  treated  conven- 
iently in  poetry.  Prose  was  gradually  introduced  as 
soon  as  society  required  more  writing  for  its  formation. 
The  essays  in  prose  writing,  which  were  written  be- 
fore Pisistratus,  were  legislative,  historical,  and  philo- 
sophical. At  the  end  of  the  seventh  century,  revolu- 
tions were  taking  place  in  the  main  cities  of  Greece ; 
monarchies  were  decaying,  and  aristocracy  struggling 
against  democracy.  Serious  men  turned  their  atten- 
tion to  the  means  of  remedying  those  evils,  hence  the 
legislators.  Still  we  find  that  the  first  laws  are  written 
in  verses.  It  was  the  time  of  the  seven  wise  men — 
Thales,  Bias,  Pittacus,  Solon,  Cleobulus,  Chilo,  and 
Periander— from  665-540. 

The  names  of  those  who  wrote  ordinances  and  laws, 
and  who  belonged  to  the  school  of  Solon,  of  whom 
some  worked  with  him,  are  : 

Periander  (627),  who  was  tyrant  of  Corinth  for  forty- 
four  years ;  his  ordinances  display  large  views,  but,  ac- 
cording to  Herodotus,  he  was  very  cruel. 

Pittacus  (652),  a  native  of  Mytilene.   Besides  a  prose 


40  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

work  in  defence  of  his  laws,  he  wrote  six  hundred  ele- 
giac verses ;  he  was  for  ten  years  tyrant  of  Lesbos,  and 
died  in  569.  Some  of  his  maxims  and  precepts  are 
beautiful. 

Thales  was  born  at  Miletus,  in  635 ;  he  became  the 
founder  of  the  Ionian  philosophy.  Aristotle  considers 
him  as  the  first  discoverer  of  mathematics  and  physical 
philosophy.  Thales  studied  that  science  in  Egypt, 
under  the  priests  of  Memphis.  Quotations  from  his 
writings  are  found  frequently  in  Aristotle. 

Solon  (638). — He  was  born  at  Salamis.  He  became 
archon  and  legislator  in  594.  Solon  was  distinguished 
not  only  as  a  legislator,  but  also  as  a  philosopher  ;  he 
owes  much  to  his  travels.  By  his  exertions  he  per- 
suaded the  Athenians  to  take  back  Salamis,  which  had 
been  snatched  from  them  by  the  Megarians.  That  cir- 
cumstance made  him  acquire  much  influence  at  Athens, 
and  Solon,  finding  that  much  disorder  existed  there, 
gave  to  the  Athenians  a  new  constitution,  which  reme- 
died the  evils  suffered,  especially  by  those  who  were  in 
debt.  His  system  was  overthrown  at  the  time  of  the 
usurpation  of  Pisistratus.  Nothing  is  left  of  his  writ- 
ings in  prose.  In  regard  to  his  poetry,  we  have  some 
fragments,  and  the  finest  is  his  "  Prayer  to  the  Muses." 

Three  more  names  should  be  added,  in  order  to 
complete  our  list :  Cleobulus  (638),  who  was  tyrant  of 
Rhodes ;  Bias  (550),  the  tyrant  of  Priene  (Ionia) ;  and 
Chilos  (596),  the  ephor  of  Sparta.  We  have  no  writ- 
ings from  them.* 

*  It  seems  but  natural  that  we  should  say  a  few  words  about 
the  great  legislator  of  Sparta,  Lycurgus.  Although  he  did  not 
write  his  laws,  still  his  name  must  be  mentioned,  because  very 


PROSE  WRITERS:  LAWS— HISTORY.  41 

In  the  historical  division  we  have  only  three  names 
of  writers,  whose  works  are  not  extant.  Before  them, 
as  we  have  said,  poets  were  the  only  historians ;  their 
songs  celebrated  in  verse  historical  facts,  but  mingled 
with  fables,  and  consequently  of  no  reliance.  Still, 
their  writings  constitute  the  only  materials  we  have 
for  the  history  of  the  period  before  the  seventh  century. 
The  three  writers  of  history  before  Pisistratus  were : 

Cadmus,  540. — This  Cadmus  was  a  native  of  Mile- 
tus, and  ought  not  to  be  confounded  with  Cadmus, 
the  son  of  Agenor,  who  introduced  the  alphabet  into 
Greece.  He  wrote  a  work  on  the  colonization  of  Ionia, 
and  the  foundation  of  Miletus.  The  book  is  lost.  Ac- 
cording to  Socrates,  he  is  the  first  who  bore  the  title 

Of   <TO<£tO'T779. 

Acusilaus. — This  historian  was  born  at  Argos,  and 
lived  a  short  time  previous  to  the  Persian  invasion  of 
Greece.  He  wrote  legends  of  mythologies  and  gene- 
alogies. His  writings,  except  a  few  fragments,  are 
also  lost. 

Hecateua,  born  at  Miletus,  in  54:0.    The  references 

likely  all  the  legislators  who  came  after  him  have  found  in  Ly- 
cnrgus's  ordinances  much  useful  information.  Lycurgns  lived  in 
the  ninth  century  before  the  Christian  era.  According  to  Plu- 
tarch, he  left  Sparta  in  order  to  avoid  suspicion,  and  visited 
Crete  and  Egypt,  studied  the  laws  and  customs  of  those  coun- 
tries, and,  returning  to  Sparta,  he  reformed  the  legislation  of  his 
native  place.  In  order  to  prevent  his  countrymen  from  destroy- 
ing the  result  of  his  labors  and  efforts,  he  left  Sparta,  having 
made  the  citizens  swear  that  they  would  not  change  any  thing  in 
the  constitution  which  he  had  published,  and  which  they  had  ac- 
cepted, before  his  return.  Lycurgus  never  did  come  back,  and 
Sparta  was  flourishing  as  long  as  it  remained  faithful  to  his  laws. 


42  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

to  his  work  show  that  he  was  a  voluminous  writer ; 
we  have  only  a  few  fragments  from  him.  He  wrote 
genealogies,  and  gave  much  information  about  geog- 
raphy ;  but  little  credit  can  be  given  to  those  sources. 


CHAPTEK  VIH. 

PK08E PHILOSOPHY. 

PHILOSOPHY  owed  its  origin  among  the  Greeks  to 
the  Greek  mind,  and  not  to  foreign  influence. 

Pherecydes  of  Syros  (600)  was  the  first  philosopher. 
His  system,  like  all  the  systems  of  that  time,  is  con- 
fused. We  have  only  extracts,  and  we  might  say  that 
no  system  is  given,  but  only  unconnected  thoughts. 
Pherecydes  says  that  Zevs,  Xpovos,  and  Tff,  exist  from 
all  eternity.  It  was  a  good  beginning,  evidently  taken 
from  some  biblical  reminiscence.  But  he  does  not 
draw  any  reasonable  conclusions.  Aristotle  says  of 
Pherecydes,  that  he  stands  on  the  boundary-line  be- 
tween mythical  poetry  and  philosophy.  "Zeus,"  he 
writes,  "  Chronos,  and  Chthonia,  existed  from  eternity. 
Chthonia  was  called  Ge.  Zeus  then  transforms  him- 
self into  Eros,  the  god  of  Love,  wishing  to  form  the 
world  from  the  original  materials  made  by  Chronos 
and  Ge.  Zeus  makes  a  large  and  beautiful  garment ; 
upon  it  he  paints  Earth  and  Ogenos  (Ocean),  and  the 
horses  of  Ogenos,  and  he  spreads  the  garment  over  a 
winged  oak."  This  is  evidently  poetry,  although  ex- 
pressed in  prose.  As  we  see,  there  is  in  him  asser- 


PROSE— PHILOSOPHY.  43 

tion,  and  no  speculation.  His  assertion  was  the  germ 
from  which  philosophy  was  developed,  but  not  phi- 
losophy. Very  little  is  known  about  his  life,  and 
we  know  nothing  certain  in  regard  to  the  way  that 
he  died.  The  first  who  gave  a  system  of  philosophy 
was  Thales.  The  notion  that  Greek  philosophy  is 
derived  from  Oriental  philosophy  has  been  widely 
spread  and  defended,  but  it  cannot  be  admitted.  For, 
if  such  were  the  case,  there  would  be  want  of  unity ; 
there  is  no  trace  of  any  want  of  connection,  which 
would  necessarily  result  from  the  introduction  of 
a  foreign  element.  Besides  this  first  consideration, 
Eastern  philosophy  would  have  taught  Greece  more 
perfect  notions  respecting  the  personality  of  the  Deity ; 
would  have  accustomed  the  Greek  mind  to  contem- 
plate the  divine  power  as  creative;  would  have  de- 
fined more  clearly  the  dealings  of  men  with  God. 
These  subjects  did  not  form  a  part  of  Greek  philos- 
ophy. Deity  was  little  more  than  an  abstract  prin- 
ciple of  reason.  Matter  was  as  eternal  as  God.  God 
did  not  interfere  in  the  concerns  or  interests  of  man. 
As  we  may  see,  there  is  much  difference  between  the 
philosophies  of  those  two  races. 

In  investigating  the  history  of  Greek  philosophical 
literature,  a  striking  point  of  resemblance  is  observable 
between  it  and  their  poetical  literature — a  resemblance 
arising  out  of  the  national  character  itself.  The  Greek 
philosophy  followed  this  division  of  the  Greek  poetry. 
"We  have  the  Ionian  school,  the  most  vivid  one,  but 
limiting  itself  to  the  study  of  physical  phenomena,  the 
school  where  imagination  is  more  glowing ;  and  the 
Dorian  school,  which  is  more  serious,  and  examines 


44  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

especially  the  principles  of  moral  philosophy.  This 
school,  founded  in  Magna  Grsecia,  gave  birth  to  the 
Aleatic  school,  established  at  Alea  (Magna  Graecia),  by 
Xenophanes. 

The  philosophy  of  that  time  may  be  divided  into 
two  parts,  dynamical  and  mechanical.  The  first  at- 
tributes to  the  atoms  a  power  of  moving  and  acting, 
Avvafju,1* ;  the  other  refuses  that  power  to  the  elements 
of  things,  and  attributes  the  changes  to  some  external 
force.  To  the  first  school  belong  Thales,  Anaximenes, 
Diogenes,  and  Heraclitus ;  in  the  second,  we  find  An- 
aximander,  Anaxagoras,  and  Archelaus,  the  teacher 
of  Socrates.  The  following  are  the  philosophers  from 
whom  we  have  fragments,  or  quotations,  or  references, 
and  who  belong  more  properly  to  the  history  of  an- 
cient literature : 

Already  we  have  spoken  of  Thales.  That  philos- 
opher gave  water  as  the  principle  of  every  thing ;  but, 
by  water,  he  understood  very  likely  the  chaos,  or  the 
material  substances  in  dissolution. 

Anaximander,  born  in  610,  at  Miletus,  as  we  have 
said,  was  a  mechanical  philosopher.  According  to 
him,  the  principle  (apxfy  of  every  thing  is  the  infinite 
(TO  aireipov) ;  a  mixture  (/t^y/wr)  of  elements  out  of 
which  substances  are  formed  by  separation,  the  ho- 
mogeneous parts  being  attracted  toward  each  other. 
The  cause  of  the  production  of  animated  beings  is  the 
solar  heat. 

Anaximenes  was  also  a  native  of  Miletus,  where 
he  was  born  in  556.  He  pretended  that  from  air 
all  things  were  produced.  We  have  no  fragments 
of  the  writings  of  those  two  philosophers,  but  many 


PROSE— PHILOSOPHY.  45 

references  to  their  systems  may  be  found  in  the  writ- 
ings of  Aristotle. 

Diogenes  was  a  pupil  of  Anaximenes,  and  a  native 
of  Apollonia,  in  Crete.  He  took  the  views  of  his  mas- 
ter, in  regard  to  the  primal  element  of  every  thing. 
He  wrote  several  books  on  cosmology  (irepl  ^uo-eo)?). 
The  fragments  which  remain  have  been  recently  col- 
lected and  edited. 

Anaxagoras  was  also  a  pupil  of  Anaximenes.  He 
died  at  Lampsacus,  after  a  very  stormy  lite.  Few  frag- 
ments remain  of  his  writings,  which  have  been  more 
numerous  than  those  of  Diogenes;  from  those  frag- 
ments we  may  see  that  Anaxagoras  had  a  good  knowl- 
edge of  astronomy. 

Heraclitus  was  born  at  Ephesus,  in  the  sixty-ninth 
Olympiad.  He  was  very  obscure  in  his  style,  and  has 
been  surnamed  on  that  account  orcoTe^o?.  Heraclitus 
was  a  misanthrope  by  nature ;  his  philosophy  has  es- 
pecially a  moral  character ;  still,  it  treats  of  the  forma- 
tion of  the  world,  and  belongs  to  the  dynamical  school. 
God  is  found  everywhere.  Fire  is  the  original  element 
of  the  material  world.  "We  have  many  fragments  of 
his  work,  Tlepl  <f>v<rea)s.  Heraclitus  is  the  first  who 
taught  the  pantheistic  doctrine.  His  style  is,  besides 
being  obscure,  too  concise  and  broken. 

Archelaus  was  a  pupil  of  Anaxagoras,  whose  prin- 
ciples he  accepted,  and  became  the  teacher  of  Socrates. 
He  has  been  called  $uo-t«o9  (the  Natural  Philosopher). 
We  have  little  information  about  his  life,  and  no  frag- 
ment is  extant  of  his  writings. 

Pythagoras  was  probably  a  native  of  Samos,  where 
he  was  born  in  the  forty-ninth  Olympiad.  He  trav- 


46  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

elled  much,  and  fixed  himself  at  Crotona,  in  Magna 
Grsecia.  He  was  the  first  who  took  the  name  of  Phi- 
losopher. In  politics  he  was  aristocratic,  and,  by  his 
influence,  the  aristocratic  government  was  established 
at  Crotona  and  its  vicinity.  It  was  in  that  place  that 
Pythagoras  founded  his  famous  school,  which  had  as 
many  as  six  hundred  pupils,  living  together,  and  pre- 
paring themselves  to  reach  the  degree  of  Esoterics. 
The  government  established  at  Crotona  by  the  influ- 
ence of  Pythagoras  was  upset,  and  the  philosopher  had 
to  fly ;  he  reached  Metapontum,  but  there  he  was  killed. 
Many  books  have  been  attributed  to  him  by  modern 
Pythagoreans;  they  are  evidently  spurious,  and  the 
mixture  of  the  ancient  and  modern  Pythagorean  doc- 
trine makes  it  difficult  to  determine  what  the  real 
teaching  of  Pythagoras  was.  It  is  not  probable  that 
Pythagoras  attributed  to  number  the  meaning  given 
to  it  afterward,  going  so  far  as  to  make  number  the 
principle  of  matter.  But  it  is  clear  that  Pythagoras 
considered  number  as  the  principle  of  physical  as  well 
as  moral  harmony  in  the  world — and  he  establishes 
his  system  for  any  kind  of  sciences  or  beings — and  so 
number  is  the  essence  (ov<rui)  and  principle  (apxn)  of 
all  things.  Bat,  once  more,  essence  is  not  the  sub- 
stance (v\ij)  in  the  sense  of  Pythagoras.  Pythagoras 
admits  the  unity  of  God,  and  the  immortality  of  the 
soul ;  he  taught,  but  did  not  invent,  the  doctrine  of 
metempsychosis.  We  have  no  writing  from  Pythago- 
ras ;  the  details  concerning  his  life,  his  institutes,  and 
his  doctrine,  have  been  preserved  by  his  disciples. 

Xenoplianes. — This  elegiac  poet,  who  founded  the 
Eleatic  school,  was  born  at  Colophon,  in  556.     Xeno- 


PROSE— PHILOSOPHY.  47 

phanes  has  exact  notions  about  God  and  his  attributes. 
He  most  probably  was  not  a  pantheist.  Xenophanes 
asserts  that  God  is  the  same  as  the  universe,  but  he 
also  asserts  the  existence  of  a  material  world  distinct 
from  God.  Did  he  mean  that  God  was  a  spiritual 
substance  pervading  the  material  universe?  It  is  im- 
possible to  determine.  The  Eleatic  school  showed  a 
great  improvement :  1.  In  asserting  the  unity  of  God ; 
2.  In  referring  the  conclusions  of  the  other  systems  to 
the  test  of  reason.  We  have  no  writings  from  Xeno- 
phanes 


BOOK   II. 

SECOND  PERIOD  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  OLASSIOAI 
LITERATURE  OF  GREECE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DRAMATIC   STYLE — TT8   INFANCY. 

THE  period  at  which  Greece  began  to  have  a  fixed 
and  established  national  literature  was  that  of  Pisis- 
tratus  (529,  the  time  of  his  death),  commonly  called 
the  Tyrant  of  Athens.  The  administration  of  the 
tyrants  was  the  transition  from  the  aristocratic  and 
oligarchic  to  the  democratic  government.  This  was 
a  flourishing  time  for  Greece.  Pisistratus's  power 
lasted  ten  years,  and,  during  that  time,  the  drama  made 
its  appearance ;  it  was  rude  in  its  infancy,  but  prom- 
ising its  future  greatness.  The  union  of  epic  and  lyric 
style  formed  dramatic  poetry. 

The  drama  is  the  creation  of  the  Hellenic  race ;  we 
do  not  find  it  among  the  Semitic  families,  and  the  Ro- 
mans have  imitated  the  Greeks. 

There  are  two  characteristic  features  in  the  Attic 
drama :  First,  it  is  essentially  religious.  The  drama 
was  a  ceremonial  for  the  public  worship  of  some  di- 


DRAMATIC  STYLE— ITS  INFANCY.  49 

vinity.  This  character  of  the  drama  has  been  kept 
always.  The  believers  in  a  pure  faith  can  scarcely 
understand  a  religious  element  in  dramatic  exhibitions. 
They  who  know  that  God  is  a  spirit  feel  that  his  at- 
tributes are  too  awful  to  permit  any  ideas  connected 
with  the  Deity  to  be  brought  into  contact  with  the 
exhibition  of  human  passions.  But  the  imaginative 
Greek  did  not  experience  this  difficulty.  His  gods 
were  either  the  creatures  of  his  own  fancy,  or  they 
were  human  beings  like  himself,  who  had,  while  alive, 
attained  the  heroic  standard,  and  after  death  had  been 
deified.  They  possessed  the  same  properties,  feelings, 
passions,  and  moral  imperfections,  as  himself;  even  the 
supreme  ruler  of  them  all  was  not  omnipotent.  His 
own  native  land  was  theirs — they  were  his  fellow- 
countrymen,  as  it  were.  He  could  bathe  in  the  river, 
or  drink  of  the  fountain,  or  seek  shade  in  the  grove,  or 
climb  the  hills,  which  were  pervaded  by  the  influence 
and  consecrated  by  the  presence  of  deity.  Parnassus, 
where  the  Muses,  the  authors  of  all  inspiration,  resided, 
was  close  at  hand.  The  mighty  Olympus,  the  dwelling- 
place  of  Zeus  himself,  he  might  behold  with  his  own 
eyes.  The  second  character  of  the  drama  was  the 
realization  of  the  audience,  represented  by  the  chorus, 
which  personified  the  audience.  The  chorus  was  of 
course  supposed  to  enter  into  the  feelings  and  fortunes, 
and  express  the  sympathies,  of  the  audience. 

We  find  two  parts  in  the  drama,  the  chorus  and  the 
dialogue.  The  first  one,  which  was  almost  entirely 
lyric,  was  Dorian,  and  the  other  one  was  Ionian.  This 
peculiarity  has  been  explained  before.  Although  the 
chorus  was  an  important  element  of  the  drama,  still 
3 


50  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

the  dialogue  constituted  its  essence.  How  was  the 
dialogue  connected  with  the  original  chorus  ?  In  or- 
der to  solve  that  question,  let  us  see  the  origin  of  the 
drama.  Aristotle  says  that  tragedy  was  first  a  speech 
delivered  between  the  dances,  by  the  ballet-master 
dressed  in  a  goat-skin  (^705).  These  speeches,  or  nar- 
ratives, were  first  connected  with  some  event  in  the 
life  of  Bacchus.  By  degrees  the  subject  of  these 
speeches  was  changed,  and  this  modification  was  in- 
troduced by  Thespis,  the  real  inventor  of  tragedy,  550. 
By  degrees  also  the  mysteries  of  Eleusis  were  intro- 
duced, in  order  to  correct  the  indecencies  of  Bacchus's 
festivities.  Thespis  introduced  a  performer  who  was 
not  the  ballet-master.  Phrynicus,  and  after  him  Chae- 
rilus,  followed  him  in  his  modifications  (523-511) ;  the 
legends  of  Bacchus  were  abandoned,  and  Phrynicus 
introduced  the  satyric.  element  in  the  drama.  Pratinas 
is  the  one  who  introduced  pure  satyric  dramas.  These 
three  men  were  the  forerunners  of  the  great  dramatists, 
and  even  Chaerilus  and  Pratinas  contended  with  ^Es- 
chylus  in  499.  It  was  then  the  time  of  the  great 
tragic  writers,  but  most  of  the  works  of  the  dramatists 
have  been  lost.  We  have  but  few  tragedies  from  JEs- 
chylus,  Sophocles,  and  Euripides.  Chaerilus,  who  was 
born  in  523,  may  be  considered  as  having  probably 
developed  the  satyric  drama,  introduced  by  his  con- 
temporary Phrynicus,  if  we  may  place  any  confidence 
in  the  following  verse  of  an  anonymous  poet : 

'Hviica  [lev  /3ao-6\eu9  fy  Xoi/nXo?  ev  Harvpots. 

During  forty  years  Chasrilus  continued  his  exhibition 
of  tragedies,  and  during  that  time  he  produced  one 


DRAMATIC   STYLE— ITS  PERFECTION.  51 

hundred  and  fifty  pieces,  and  gained  thirteen  victories. 
Although  Chserilus  developed  the  satyric  drama,  it 
was  not  he,  but  Pratinas,  who  completed  the  separa- 
tion between  the  tragic  and  satyric  drama. 


CHAPTEK  II. 

DRAMATIC   STYLE  —  ITS   PERFECTION. 

THE  time  of  Pericles  (500-425)  exhibits  the  dra- 
matic style  in  its  perfection.  Although  the  three  great 
dramatists  of  Greece  were  imbued  with  the  spirit  of 
Homer,  still  they  were  as  creative  as  Homer  himself; 
they  were  the  representatives  of  the  religious  belief  of 
their  time,  and  they  had  of  the  deity  a  more  divine 
notion  than  the  great  epic  poet.  Like  Homer  and 
Pindar,  they  represent  a  poetic  era. 

2Eschylus.  —  He  was  born  in  525,  at  Eleusis,  in  At- 
tica, and  was  the  son  of  Euphorion.  He  devoted  him- 
self to  poetry  at  an  early  age,  but  did  not  succeed  much 
until  484.  He  was  vanquished  by  Sophocles.  JEschy- 
lus  was  a  soldier  for  several  years,  and  fought  at  Mar- 
athon and  Salamis,  and,  in  these  two  engagements,  he 
distinguished  himself  for  his  bravery.  The  following 
epigram  shows  it  : 

€vS6tcifj,ov  MapaOcaviov  a\<ro<?  av  CITTOV  • 


The  Athenians  exiled  him,  under  the  pretence  of 
impiety.     He  died  by  accident;  an  eagle  dropped  a 


52  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

tortoise  on  his  head,  which  was  bald,  mistaking  it  for 
a  rock.     We  find  the  following  epitaph  on  his  tomb : 

6T)vaiov  roSe  /cev0ei 
'7ropv<})6poio  PeXtt? 

'A\K1]V  8*  eilSoKlJAOV,  K.  T.  X. 

JEschylus  wrote  seventy  tragedies,  of  which  only 
seven  are  extant.  They  were  trilogies ;  that  is,  each 
subject  comprised  three  tragedies.  -^Eschylus  has  been 
called  the  "  Father  of  Tragedy,"  on  account  of  the  many 
improvements  which  he  introduced  on  the  stage.  In  phi- 
losophical sentiments  ^Eschylus  is  said  to  have  been  a 
Pythagorean,  and  in  his  extant  dramas  the  tenets  of 
this  sect  may  be  occasionally  traced,  as,  deep  venera- 
tion in  what  concerns  the  gods,  high  regard  for  the 
sanctity  of  an  oath  and  the  nuptial  bond,  and  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul.  Aristophanes,  depicting  ^Eschylus, 
says  that  his  temper  was  stern,  proud,  and  impatient ; 
his  sentiments,  pure,  noble,  and  warlike ;  his  genius,  in- 
ventive, magnificent,  and  towering,  even  to  occasional 
extravagance ;  his  style,  bold,  lofty,  and  impetuous,  full 
of  gorgeous  imagery  and  ponderous  expression,  while, 
in  the  dramatic  arrangement  of  his  pieces,  there  re- 
mained much  of  ancient  simplicity,  and  somewhat  even 
of  uncouth  rudeness.  He  is  similar  to  Dante  and 
Shakespeare,  in  the  peculiar  strangeness  of  his  imagi- 
nations and  expressions.  ^Eschylus  ranked  supreme 
in  tragedy. 

With  the  portrait  thus  drawn  by  Aristophanes,  the 
opinions  of  the  ancient  critics  in  general  coincide.  He 
has  been  praised  especially  by  Dionysius  of  Halicar- 
nassns,  Longinus,  and  by  Quintilian.  We  must  add, 


DRAMATIC  STYLE— ITS  PERFECTION.  53 

however,  that  the  tragic  style  of  JSschylus  is  far  from 
perfect,  and  frequently  deviates  into  the  epic  and  the 
lyric.  It  is  often  abrupt,  disproportioned,  and  harsh. 
Tire  tragedies  extant  of  JEschylus  are  : 

1.  "  The  Persians."    It  was  the  second  of  a  trilogy, 
in  which  the  poet  was  celebrating  the  triumph  of  Greece 
over  Persia. 

2.  "  The  Seven  against  Thebes."   This  tragedy  also 
was  the  second  of  a  trilogy,  where  ^Eschylus  exhibits 
the  results  of  the  curse  of  (Edipus  pronounced  against 
his  sons,  Eteocles  and  Polynices.     In  these  two  trage- 
dies the  poet  pours  forth  a  warlike  strain ;   the  per- 
sonal inclination  of  ^Eschylus  for  the  life  of  a  hero 
beams  forth  in  a  manner  which  cannot  be  mistaken. 

3.  "  The  Suppliants."    It  was  the  second  of  a  tril- 
ogy, and  embodied  the. history  of  the  house  of  Danaus. 
This  play  forms  one  of  the  feeblest  productions  of  ^Es- 
chylus ;  the  chorus  in  it  plays  the  principal  character. 

4.  "Prometheus  Bound."      This  piece  exhibits  a 
terrible  example  of  the  wrath  and  revenge  of  Zeus ; 
all  the  personages  were  divinities.     It  was  also  the 
second  of  a  trilogy,  of  which  the  first  was  "  Prome- 
theus the  Fire-Bringer,"  and  the  third  "Prometheus 
Unbound." 

5.  We  have  here  a  complete  trilogy — "  Agamem- 
non," "  Choephori,"  and  "  Eumenides."     These  trage- 
dies  embodied  the  legend  of  Orestes  revenging  the 
death  of  his  father  by  killing  his  mother  Clytemnestra. 
The  choruses  in  "  Agamemnon  "  are  beautiful,  partic- 
ularly when  ^Eschylus  shows  the  struggle  between  the 
duties  of  a  chief  and  the  affections  of  a  father,  in  ref- 
erence to  the  sacrifice  of  Iphigenia.   Orestes  is  in  these 


54  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

tragedies  an  application  of  the  law  of  blood-guilt ;  upon 
him  was  devolving  the  duty  of  executing  vengeance 
upon  the  murderer  of  his  father.  After  the  parricidal 
deed  committed  by  Orestes,  no  human  power  can  take 
vengeance  upon  him,  because  he  is  the  avenger  of 
blood ;  his  mother's  furies  can  alone  pursue  him,  and 
eyen  they  are  powerless  when  he  has  visited  the  shrine 
of  Delphi  as  a  suppliant  for  purification.  As  soon  as 
he  has  received  it  at  the  hands  of  the  god,  the  furies 
become  well-disposed  "  Eumenides." 

Sophocles. — He  was  born  at  Colonos,  near  Athens, 
in  495.  No  one  surpassed  jEschylus  for  boldness  and 
genius;  no  one  surpassed  Sophocles  for  perfection  of 
language  and  composition.  This  quality  procured  for 
him  the  title  of  "The  Attic  Bee."  The  characters 
of  ^Eschylus  have  generally  an  awful  and  superhuman 
vastness ;  Sophocles  depicts  real  life  ;  ^Eschylus  ex- 
cites terror  and  admiration,  Sophocles  excites  sym- 
pathy and  affection.  He  wrote  verses  at  a  very 
early  age,  and  was  held  in  great  esteem  by  his  coun- 
trymen. He  received  a  high  military  command, 
but  soon  showed  that  he  was  better  qualified  for  writ- 
ing verses  than  leading  an  army.  It  is  not  known  how 
he  died.  Some  verses  are  found  in  the  "  Anthologia," 
which  are  contradictory.  We  read  first : 

tE(rj3ea'dr]<;,  yrjpaie  5"o<£>6/cXee9,  dv0o<;  aoi8£>v, 
OivwTrov  Bd/c)(pv  ftorpvv  epeTrropevos. 

This  epigram  is  from  Simonides.  It  is  said  elsewhere 
that  Sophocles  died  in  the  exercise  of  his  beloved  art,  in 
extreme  old  age,  without  disease  and  without  suffering : 

Ka\G>9  ereXei/njo-'  ovSev  inrofielvas  rcatcov. 


DRAMATIC  STYLE—  ITS  PERFECTION.  55 

The  first  epigram  is  probably  the  true  one.  We  may 
rely  for  this  on  the  saying  of  Aristophanes,  although 
he  sometimes  exaggerates.  The  comic  poet  shows  us 
Sophocles  fond  of  wine  and  pleasure  ;  he  says  in  his 
"  Eanse,"  speaking  of  him  : 


'O  8'  ev/co\o<;  par  evdaSe,  evtfoXo?  S'  eVet. 

In  the  tragedies  of  Sophocles  is  seen  the  perfection 
of  the  Greek  drama,  and  this  does  not  contradict  what 
has  been  asserted  above.  Although  Aristotle  pro- 
nounces Euripides  to  be  the  most  tragic  of  poets,  and 
Longinus  pronounces  him  to  have  been  unequalled  in 
his  tragic  representations  of  love  and  madness,  yet  no 
tragic  poet  equalled  Sophocles  in  combining  dignity, 
purity,  pathos,  and  piety,  with  the  most  refined  genius 
and  the  highest  poetical  talent.  Seven  tragedies  only 
are  extant  out  of  one  hundred  and  thirteen,  and  we 
have  probably  the  best  ones.  They  are,  in  order  of 
merit  : 

1.  "  CEdipus  Kex  "  (Ot'S/Trou?  -rvpavvos).     It  would 
be  difficult  to  conceive  a  subject  more  thoroughly  tragi- 
cal than  that  which  forms  the  basis  of  this  play.     The 
"  CEdipus  Tyrannus  "  is  considered  not  only  as  the 
chef-d'oeuvre  of  Sophocles,  but  also  as  the  finest  tragedy 
of  antiquity. 

2.  "Antigone"  ('Avrlyovrj).      The  sister  of  Poly- 
nices,  she  disobeys  Cleon  and  buries  her  brother.    Her 
answers  to  Cleon  are  sometimes  sublime,  when  Cleon 
accuses  Polynices  of  hatred  toward  him.     "  Oh,  no  !  " 
exclaims  Antigone,  "  he  was  born  to  love,  not  to  hate." 

Ov  rol  <rvve)(Qeiv, 


56  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

3.  "  (Edipu8  at  Colonos "   (O^wrou?  en-l  Ko\wv&). 
This  piece  exhibits  the  death  and  burial,  or  rather  dis- 
appearance, of  (Edipus.     It  is  rich  in  description  and 
flatteries  addressed  to  the  Athenian  people.    The  words 
of  (Edipus,  when  talking  to  his  daughter,  are  almost 
always  very  touching. 

4.  "  Electra."     This  is  the  drama  of  "  Orestes," 
given  by  ^Esehylus  under  a  different  name. 

5.  "Trachinia"  (Tpaxlvuu).      It  is  the  death  of 
Hercules,  in  which  tragedy  the  chorus  is  composed  of 
young  females  of  Trachis. 

6.  "Ajax  Armed  with  the  Lash"  (Atas  fuurrvyo- 
<f>6pos).     The  subject  of  this  piece  is  the  madness  of 
Ajax,  his  death,  and  the  dispute  which  arises  on  the 
subject  of  his  interment.     It  is  a  good  piece. 

7.  "  Philoctetes "  (^XOKTT^).     We  find  in  this 
play  the  mission  of  Ulysses  to  Philoctetes  in  the  island 
of  Lemnos,  in  order  to  induce  him  to  come  back  to  the 
Grecian  army.     He  succeeded  with  great  difficulty  in 
accomplishing  his  object.    This  tragedy,  although  very 
simple  in  its  plot,  is  marked  by  a  constantly-increasing 
interest,  and  the  characters  are  well  supported.     Soph- 
ocles, however,  might  have  omitted  several  details  at 
the  beginning,  which  are  hardly  acceptable  in  poetry. 


EURIPIDES,  ETC.— THE  THEATRE.  57 


CHAPTER  III. 

EUEIPIDE8    AND    THE    LAST    TRAGIC   WRITERS    OF    THIS   PE- 
RIOD -  THE   THEATRE. 

Euripides,  the  son  of  Mnesarchus  and  Clito,  was 
born  in  480,  at  Phylae,  near  Athens,  on  the  day  of  the 
battle  of  Salamis.  The  parents  of  Euripides  must  have 
been  of  high  standing,  since  Euripides  was  chosen  to 
discharge  the  office  of  cup-bearer  in  the  festival  of  the 
Deli  an  Apollo.  We  read  in  Athenseus  : 

Olvo%6ovv  re  trapa  rot?  dp^alotf  ol  €vyeve<rraToi,  TratSe?, 

As  we  see,  such  office  was  intrusted  only  to  boys  dis- 
tinguished by  their  nobility. 

The  father  of  Euripides  directed  in  early  life  the 
attention  of  his  son  to  gymnastic  exercises,  and  Eu- 
ripides was  crowned  when  he  was  but  seventeen  years 
old  in  the  Eleusinian  contest.  In  acting  thus,  the  fa- 
ther was  determined  by  an  oracle  given  him  while  his 
wife  was  pregnant  of  the  future  dramatist.  We  read 
in  Aulus  Gellius  : 

e?  /e\eo9  ecrdXbv  opov<ret 

teal  GT€(f)ea)v  lep&v  y\vtcepr)v  'Xfipiv  d(ji,<f>i{3a\eiTai. 


Euripides  had  a  very  stormy  life.  At  the  age  of  twenty 
he  became  a  painter  ;  but,  feeling  that  he  was  born  a 
poet,  at  a  very  early  age  also  he  was  writing  verses. 
Few  men  have  been  more  calumniated.  Euripides 
shared  the  fate  common  to  all  great  men  at  Athens  : 
he  went  into  exile,  and  found  hospitality  at  the  court 


58  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

of  Archelaus,  King  of  Macedonia.  There  he  provoked 
the  envy  of  two  poets,  and  was  killed  by  dogs  at  the 
age  of  seventy-five.  The  following  epitaph,  written 
anonymously,  is  found  in  the  "  Anthologia  :  " 

Ov  abv  fjbvtjfjut  roS'  ecrr  Evpnri&jj,  a\\a  <rv  rovSe, 
Tfj  <TT}  yap  BO^TJ  /jivrj/ut,  roS' 


A  cenotaph  was  erected  to  his  memory  at  Athens, 
bearing  the  following  inscription  : 

Mvfujia  fiev  '.EXXa?  farocr  EvpnrlBov,  cxrrea  S'  tayet, 

Trj  MafceBwv  '  f)  yap  Begaro  repfia  ftiov. 
Harpls  5'  'E\\dSos  'E\\a<;  'AOrjvai 

s,  e'/c  TroXXwy  /cat  rbv  errawov 


Euripides  wrote  seventy-five  dramas,  others  say  ninety- 
two,  and  some  authors  pretend  that  he  composed  as 
many  as  one  hundred  and  twenty,  but  only  eighteen 
are  extant. 

^Eschylus  gives  supernatural  and  wonderful  char- 
acters ;  Sophocles  dignified  and  heroic,  but  still  natural 
ones  ;  Euripides  gives  the  romance  of  private,  every-day 
life,  and  his  tragedies  are  pictures  of  the  manners  of 
Athens,  and  are  not  exaggerated.  He  is  blamed  for 
having  lowered  the  style  of  tragedy  ;  this  may  be  ac- 
cepted as  true,  although  Aristotle  says  the  contrary, 
but  Aristotle  is  not  impartial.  Euripides,  besides  be- 
ing a  poet,  was  a  good  philosopher,  and  consequently 
had  the  warm  sympathies  of  Aristotle.  He  is  blamed 
also  for  having  lowered  the  character  of  women  ;  this 
reproach  is  from  Aristophanes,  but  is  not  deserved; 
moreover,  the  pictures  given  by  Euripides  are  true,  and 
won  for  him  the  popularity  of  his  hearers.  It  is  said 


EURIPIDES,  ETC.-THE  THEATRE.  59 

that  he  made  the  divinity  interfere  too  frequently  in 
his  plots,  but  we  should  consider  that  Euripides  had 
not,  concerning  the  gods,  the  opinion  of  Sophocles  and 
^Eschylus.  The  gods,  in  his  opinion,  were  little  more 
than  mere  men. 

His  prologues  are  criticised  ;  in  'this  he  may  be 
blamed,  for  they  were  long,  and  rendered  the  plot  mo- 
notonous. Euripides  was  an  enemy  of  demagogues, 
and  no  wonder  ;  many  traces  of  his  political  views  are 
found  in  "  Hecuba,"  where  he  attacks  democratic  prin- 
ciples under  the  character  of  Ulysses,  and  in  "  Orestes." 
His  philosophical  doctrine  is  not  as  pure  as  that  of 
JSschylus,  for  we  find  in  his  writings  such  principles 
as  the  following  one  : 

'JET  <y\aHT(r'  ofAWfAox  ,  rj  Be 


making  light  of  the  sacredness  of  an  oath.  His  choral 
odes  and  lyric  pieces  are  the  most  tender  and  the 
sweetest  of  his  compositions,  and  his  monodies  are  un- 
rivalled. Already,  at  his  time,  the  chorus  had  lost 
much  of  its  prestige  and  religious  character. 

The  style  of  Euripides  is,  on  the  whole,  not  com- 
pressed enough;  although  it  presents  us  with  some 
very  happily-drawn  pictures  and  ingenious  turns  of 
language,  it  has  neither  the  dignity  and  energy  of 
^Eschylus,  nor  the  chaste  grace  of  Sophocles.  Eurip- 
ides was  evidently  a  forerunner  of  the  new  comedy, 
for  which  he  has  a  real  inclination.  The  following  is 
a  list  of  his  dramas  now  extant,  in  the  order  of  merit, 
according  to,  as  we  think,  the  best  critics  : 

1.  "  Hecuba."  The  subject  is  the  sacrifice  of  Po- 
lyxena  to  the  manes  of  Achilles,  and  the  vengeance  of 


60  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

Hecuba  killing  the  murderer  of  her  son  Polydorus.  In 
this  play  the  resignation  of  Polyxena,  and  the  afieetion 
of  Hecuba's  mother,  are  the  best  scenes.  This  play 
has  been  imitated  by  several  of  the  moderns,  especially 
by  Kacine,  and  Yoltaire  in  his  "  Merope." 

2.  "  Medaea  "  (MijBela).     We  have  in  this  play  the 
vengeance  of  Medaea  upon  the  unfaithful  Jason.     She 
kills  the  children  which  she  had  by  him.     The  sim- 
plicity and  clearness  of  the  action  constitute  the  prin- 
cipal charm  of  the  play. 

3.  "  Hippolytus  "  ('ITTTTOXUTO?  ^refyavofyopos).  Phae- 
dra, the  mother  of  Hippolytus,  becomes  enamored  of 
her  son  by  the  resentment  of  Venus,  and,  unable  to 
satisfy  her  passion,  she  dies  and  leaves  to  Theseus,  her 
husband,  the  care  of  destroying  his  own  son.    The  play 
is  good,  and  has  been  imitated  by  Kacine  in  his  tragedy 
called  "Phedre." 

4.  "  Iphigenia  in  Aulis  "  £I<f>iryeveia  r/  ev  AvTuSi),  and 

5.  "  Iphigenia  in  Tauris "  (7<£tyeVeta  r)  ev  TavpiSi), 
are  two  good  dramas,  of  which  the  subjects  are  well 
known,  and  have  been  treated  partly  already  by  ^Es- 
chylus  and  Sophocles.     In  this  last  tragedy  the  best 
scene  is  the  one  in  which  Iphigenia  and  Orestes,  her 
brother,  become  known  to  each  other. 

6.  "Supplices"  ('I/eertSe?).     The  Argive  females, 
prostrated  at  Eleusis  before  the  temple  of  Ceres,  be- 
seech Theseus  to  avenge  their  husbands  killed  before 
Thebes.    Instead  of  a  prologue,  we  have  in  this  play  a 
prayer  to  Ceres  by  the  mother  of  Theseus,  which  is 
beautiful. 

7.  "Ion."     This  play  is  remarkable  on  account  of 
the  difficulties  of  the  plan.     Ion  was  the  son  of  Apollo 


EURIPIDES,  ETC.— TEE  THEATRE.  61 

and  Creusa.  Apollo  aims  to  put  Ion  in  such  a  position 
that  his  mother,  not  knowing  him,  intends  to  poison 
him,  and  he,  not  knowing  his  mother,  endeavors  to 
kill  her.  There  is  much  resemblance  between  this 
tragedy  and  the  "  Athalie  "  of  Racine.  The  play  ia 
very  interesting. 

8.  "Helena"  (E\evij).     The  action  is  carried  on 
in  the  island  of  Paros.     Menelaus  recognizes  Helena, 
who  is  kept  in  custody  by  the  king.     She  is  delivered 
by  a  goddess. 

9.  "  Orestes  "  (Opivrw}.  The'subject  of  this  drama 
is  the  judgment  of  Orestes,  and,  the  decision  given  by 
Menelaus  is  so  unexpected  by  Orestes,  that  Apollo  in- 
tervenes and  saves  him.     The  drama  is  not  well  con- 
ducted, and  the  denoument  is  unexpected ;    but  the 
speech  of  the  defender  of  Orestes  is  beautiful. 

10.  "  Phenissse  "  ($oivla-<rai).    This  drama  contains 
the  death  of  Eteocles  and  Polynices.     The  title  cornea 
from  the  Phoenician  women  who  composed  the  chorus. 
Grotius  considers  this  play  as  the  chef-cFceuvre  of  Eu- 
ripides, but  his  opinion  has  not  been  accepted  as  the 
true  one.   There  are  several  beauties,  like  the  prologue 
presented  by  Jocasta. 

11.  "  Alcestis."     It  is  a  melodrama,  the  subject  of 
which  is  the  death  of  Alcestis,  in  order  to  prolong  her 
husband's  life,  and  her  rescue  from  hell  by  Hercules. 
On  the  whole,  it  is  a  feeble  production. 

12.  "  Andromache  "  (^AvBpo/j,dx/n)'     The  subject  is 
the  death  of  the  son  of  Achilles,  whom  Orestes  slays, 
after  having  carried  off  from  him  Hermione.     Racine 
has  a  piece  of  that  name,  but  better  composed.     The 
"  Andromache  "  of  Euripides  does  not  appear  to  us  in 


es  GREEK:  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

his  piece,  as  we  have  known  her  while  she  was  the  wife 
of  Hector. 

13.  "  Troades  (Tpcaa8e<;\  or  the  Female  Trojans." 
This  piece  describes  the  distribution  of  the  captive 
matrons  of  Troy  among  the  Greeks.     The  scene  is 
laid  in  the  Grecian  camp,  under  the  walls  of  Troy. 
There  are  some  fine  passages;   Hecuba ' especially  is 
beautiful. 

14.  "  Bacchse  "  (BaK^aC).     The  arrival  of  Hercules 
at  Thebes,  and  the  death  of  Pentheus,  torn  from  his 
mother  and  sister,  form  the  subject  of  this  play.     The 
action  is  defective,  having  neither  unity  nor  connection. 

15.  In  the  "  Heraclidse "  the  descendants  of  Her- 
cules, being  persecuted,  ask  for  aid  from  Athens.  There 
is  much  to  interest  in  the  piece. 

16.  "  Hercules  Furens  "  ^HpateTJjs  fj,aivo/jLevo<;).   Af- 
ter having  killed  his  wife  and  children,  Hercules  pro- 
ceeds to  submit  himself  to  certain  expiatory  ceremonies. 
The  scene  is  laid  at  Thebes. 

17.  "Electra"    ('HXeVrpa).      The  subject  of  this 
piece  has  been  already  treated  by  Sophocles  under  the 
same  name.     Euripides  is  inferior  to  Sophocles  ;  how- 
ever, he  has  succeeded  in  embellishing  it  with  inter- 
esting episodes. 

18.  "  Cyclops "  (KiM-\G>A/r).     It  is  a  satyric  drama, 
but  not  a  comic,  for  the  satyric  drama  is  always  tragic 
among  the  Greeks.     The  subject,  which  is  taken  from 
the  "  Odyssey,"  is  Ulysses  depriving  Polyphemus  of  his 
eye,  after  having  intoxicated  him  with  wine.    This  piece 
contains  many  beautiful  passages.    The  description  of 
the  character  of  the  satyrs  is  very  well  given. 

The  piece  called  "  Khesus "  was  never  written  by 


EURIPIDES,  ETC.— THE  THEATRE.  63 

Euripides,  but  we  have  from  him  eighty  verses  remain- 
ing of  a  tragedy  called  "  Phaeton." 

We  must  add  to  the  list  of  the  dramatic  poets  the 
following  names : 

Ion. — He  was  born  in  Chios,  and  wrote  from  twelve 
to  forty  tragedies,  but  Bentley  could  collect  only  the 
titles  of  eleven  and  some  fragments.  These  are  too 
few  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  author. 

Achseus,  born  at  Electria,  in  484,  exhibited  from 
twenty-four  to  forty-four  tragedies.  Once  he  won  a 
prize,  and  he  had  for  competitors  Sophocles  and  Eu- 
ripides. Some  fragments,  and  seventeen  titles,  are 
extant  of  his  works. 

Agathon  was  a  native  of  Athens,  and  won  the  prize 
for  the  first  time  in  416.  The  most  celebrated  of  his 
works  bore  the  title  of  "Av0os  (flower).  We  have  the 
titles  of  four  of  his  tragedies.  Agathon  was  a  great 
friend  of  Euripides. 

A  taste  and  talent  for  poetry  continued  for  some 
time  in  the  families  of  the  three  great  dramatic  poets, 
but  it  was  only  a  profession,  and  no  longer  the  result 
of  inspiration. 

Two  names  are  found  in  the  Alexandrian  canon 
besides  those  already  given :  they  are  Chseremon  and 
Theodectes.  This  last  one  wrote  fifty  tragedies,  and 
once  won  the  prize  in  the  dramatic  contest.  We 
have  some  fragments  of  his  works,  but  the  writings 
of  Chseremon  are  lost. 

NOTE. — The  theatre  among  the  Greeks  was  not  exactly  on  the 
same  plan  that  is  found  later,  especially  in  our  time.  It  was  dis- 
posed like  an  amphitheatre,  having  seats  coming  down  on  one 
side,  and  the  stage  facing  them.  It  was  in  the  open  air,  and  the 


64  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

COMEDY. 

COMEDY  took  itB  origin  from  the  Phallic  song  and 
the  dithyrambic  chorus.  This  origin  shows  sufficiently 
that  it  was  at  the  beginning  very  low  and  licentious. 
Comedy  is  of  Sicilian  origin,  but  it  soon  flourished  in 

one  of  Athens,  built  on  the  slope  of  the  Acropolis,  could  contain 
thirty  thousand  people.  Among  the  seats  some  were  reserved 
for  the  magistracy  (/?ovA#),  and  formed  the  part  called  p<n>tevriK6v. 
The  part  called  tytipiicdv  contained  the  eeats  for  the  young  men 
(tyrjjioi),  and  the  stage  had  in  the  front  the  orchestra.  The  stage 
itself  extended  forward  in  the  orchestra,  forming  a  sort  of  tri- 
angle, and  the  upper  angle  was  the  dvp&Ti  (thymele).  It  was 
the  place  where  the  chorus  stood  when  not  performing  its  solemn 
dance  and  song,  and  the  leader  of  the  chorus  took  his  stand  there 
when  joining  in  the  dialogue  on  the  stage.  The  thymele  was 
ornamented  with  an  altar  sacred  to  Dionysus,  and  therefore 
symbolical  of  the  religious  object  of  the  spectacle. 

The  front  part  of  the  stage  was  called  toydov — because  the 
actors  stood  there  while  speaking — and  the  back  vpocKfrxov.  In 
each  of  these  parts  there  were  two  entrances,  or  coulisses,  one 
on  each  side.  Under  the  orchestra  were  the  stairs  of  Charon, 
whence  the  dead  arose  when  there  was  in  the  piece  any  evoca- 
tion from  the  infernal  regions.  In  the  centre  there  was  the  royal 
doorway  (ftaadelov),  whence  the  principal  character  of  the  play 
always  made  his  entrance.  The  scenery  was  almost  entirely 
architectural,  but  the  ancients  had  also,  when  necessary,  land- 
scape painting.  This  part  of  the  decoration  was  imperfect  among 
them,  and  deprived  their  theatre  of  those  effects  of  perspective 
which  make  ours  so  interesting.  The  actors  were  helped,  in  or- 
der to  be  seen  and  heard,  by  cothurns  and  masks. 

In  the  back  part  of  the  theatre  was  the  encyclema  (cwcd/cA^a), 
for  representing  scenes  which  could  not  be  acted  before  the  spec- 


COMEDY.  65 

Attica,  and  there  reached  perfection.  The  authors  as- 
sign generally  three  periods  to  the  history  of  comedy : 
the  first  is  the  old  one,  or  the  period  of  Aristophanes, 
going  as  far  as  the  ninety-eighth  Olympiad ;  the  char- 
acteristic of  the  old  comedy  is  personality.  From  the 
ninety-eighth  Olympiad  to  the  one  hundred  and  twelfth, 
when  Philemon  and  Menander  commence  to  exhibit, 
we  have  the  second  period,  which  is  usually  termed  the 
Latin  period — it  is  the  period  of  Plautus  and  Teren- 
tius.  The  characteristic  of  the  middle  comedy  is  rather 
philosophical ;  it  is  an  attack  upon  the  follies  of  classes 
rather  than  of  individuals.  The  third  period  com- 

tators.  The  encyclema  was  a  contrivance  peculiar  to  the  Greek 
stage.  It  was  a  semicircular  machine,  representing  an  interior, 
and,  when  the  great  central  doors  were  thrown  open,  it  was  ex- 
posed to  view,  or,  as  some  think,  wheeled  forward  through  the 
opening.  The  following  instances  are  cited  by  Muller — from  the 
tragediea  of  ^Eschylus,  Sophocles,  and  Euripides — in  which  the 
encyclema  was  evidently  employed : 

uESOHYLUS. 

1.  In  the  "Agamemnon,"  v.  1345,  the  encyclema  represented 
the  apartment  containing  the  bath,  the  murdered  hero,  and  Cly- 
temnestra, with  the  weapon  in  her  hand  reeking  with  blood. 

2.  In  the  "  Ohoephori,"  v.  967.    The  chamber  as  before ;  Ores- 
tes standing  over  the  corpses  of  Clytemnestra  and  ^Egisthus. 

SOPHOCLES. 

3.  In  the  "  Electra,"  v.  1450,  a  covered  corpse  is  rolled  upon 
the  stage  in  an  encyclema,  which  ^Egisthus  supposes  to  be  Ores- 
tes.   He  unveils  it,  and  behold  it  is  Clytemnestra ! 

4.  In  the  "Antigone,"  v.  1293.     The  corpse  of  Eurydice  is 
thus  exhibited  after  her  suicide. 

5.  In  the  "  Ajax,"  v.  346.    The  interior  of  the  tent  is  thus 
thrown  open  to  the  view  of  the  assembled  people. 

6.  In  the  "  (Edipus  Tyrannus,"  v.  129T,  the  self-blinded  mon- 


66  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

menced  after  those  authors,  and  resembles  the  one  of 
our  time.  It  is  the  comedy  of  manners  which  we  have 
now,  and  is  only  the  perfection  of  the  comedy  of  the 
second  period.  It  is  in  the  pieces  of  Aristophanes  that 
we  may  study  the  characteristic  of  the  old  comedy,  he 
being  the  only  writer  from  whom  we  have  complete 
pieces.  The  old  comedy  does  not  resemble  the  comedy 
of  the  third  period.  The  structure  is  loose  and  uncon- 
nected, the  plot  is  incomplete  and  not  uniform,  and 
resembles  rather  a  modern  pantomime.  It  is  a  union 
of  independent  scenes  and  ludicrous  situations,  satirical 
attacks  on  the  vices,  and  allusions  to  the  follies  of  the 

arch  is  thus  shown  for  the  first  time  after  Ms  terrible  catas- 
trophe, 

EURIPIDES. 

7.  In  the  "Hercules  Furens,"  v.  1030,  Hercules  is  thus  dis- 
covered bound  to  a  pillar,  and  surrounded  by  the  dead  bodies  of 
his  wife  and  children. 

8.  In  the  "  Hippolytus,"  v.  818,  the  doors  of  the  palace  are 
thrown  open,  and  the  corpse  of  Phaedra  is  seen  after  her  sui- 
cide. 

The  thymele  was  sometimes  decorated  in  a  more  gorgeous 
way,  when  solemn  sacrifices  had  to  be  offered,  and  then  the 
chorus  was  in  the  orchestra. 

The  representations  were  given  during  the  months  of  Po- 
seidon, Gamelion,  Anthesterion,  and  Elaphebolion ;  they  were 
the  sixth,  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  months  of  the  Athenians, 
that  is,  December,  January,  February,  and  March.  The  price  of 
admission  was  two  oboli  (three  and  a  quarter  pence,  or  about 
seven  cents).  This  formed  the  theoric  fund,  which  was  a  sacred 
deposit. 

The  state  gave  to  the  poets  fifty  actors,  that  is,  forty-eight 
choristers  and  two  actors.  The  chorus  was  divided  into  two 
parts.  They  entered  in  files  and  ranks,  marching  three  abreast. 
There  were  never  more  than  three  actors. 


COMEDY.  67 

day.  The  humor  consists  principally  in  practical  jokes ; 
it  also  indulged  in  the  most  unrestrained  personalities. 
This  last  character  went  so  far  that  a  law,  passed  in 
440,  forbade  the  poets  to  indulge  in  personalities  ;  but 
this  law  was  abrogated  by  Alcibiades  in  415.  Such 
representations,  of  course,  were  pleasing  to  the  fickle- 
minded  public  of  Athens. 

The  old  comedy  was  to  the  Athenian  the  represent- 
ative of  many  influences  which  exist  in  the  present 
day ;  it  was  the  newspaper,  the  review,  the  satire,  the 
pamphlet,  the  caricature,  the  pantomime  of  Athens. 

Addressed  to  the  thousands  who  flocked  to  the 
theatre  to  witness  the  representation  of  a  new  comedy, 
most  of  whom  were  keenly  alive  to  every  witty  allu- 
sion and  stroke  of  satire,  and  who  took  a  deep  interest 
in  every  thing  of  a  public  nature — because  each  indi- 
vidual was  personally  engaged  in  the  administration 
of  state  affairs — the  old  comedy  must  have  been  a  pow- 
erful engine  for  good  or  for  evil.  The  comic  poets  in- 
dulged in  the  use  of  the  Parabasis,  a  sort  of  mono- 
logue, often  out  of  the  subject. 

The  first  writer  of  comedies  was  Susarion,  living  at 
the  time  of  Solon,  and  born  at  Megara.  Like  Thespis, 
he  was  accustomed  to  go  with  his  theatre  from  one 
place  to  another.  Horace  alludes  to  that  custom  when 
he  says : 

"  Ignotum  tragicae  genus  invenlsse  camenaa 
Dicitur,  et  plaustris  vexisse  poemata  Thespis." 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  first  Sicilian 
comic  writers : 

Epicharmus — who  was  the  first  of  one  hundred  and 


68  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

four  comic  writers,  of  whom  Posidippus  was  the  last, 
during  a  period  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years — was 
born  at  Cos,  in  540,  but  he  performed  at  Megara,  Sici- 
ly, and  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-seven.  He  composed 
thirty-five  comedies,  but  scarcely  more  than  the  titles 
have  been  preserved.  He  was  distinguished  for  ele- 
gance of  composition,  as  well  as  originality  of  concep- 
tion. Aristotle  reproached  him  with  the  employment 
of  false  antitheses.  So  many  were  his  dramatic  excel- 
lences, that  Plato  terms  him  the  first  of  comic  writers. 
The  plays  of  Epicharmus,  to  judge  from  the  fragments 
still  left  us,  abound  with  apophthegms  little  consistent 
with  the  idea  we  might  otherwise  have  entertained  of 
their  nature  from  our  knowledge  of  the  buffooneries 
whence  comedy  sprung ;  but  Epicharmus  was  a  philos- 
opher and  a  Pythagorean. 

Phormis,  a  contemporary  of  Epicharmus,  lived  in 
Sicily.  We  have  from  him  the  titles  of  eight  comedies. 

Dinolochus,  a  Dorian  comic  writer,  from  Agrigen- 
tum,  wrote  fourteen  comedies,  and  we  have  the  titles 
of  some  of  them. 

Among  the  writers  of  the  old  Attic  period  we  may 
give  the  following : 

Chionides,  from  Athens,  exhibited  eight  years  before 
the  Persian  War,  and  composed  nine  plays,  which  are 
lost ;  but  we  may  judge  from  the  titles  that  they  had  a 
political  tendency. 

Cratintus,  born  in  Attica,  in  519,  was  represented  as 
a  genial  fellow,  fond  of  wine,  and  distinguished  by  the 
bitterness  of  his  satires.  None  of  his  thirty-eight  com- 
edies remain,  but  we  have  the  titles. 

Eupolis  (446),  a  native  of  Athens,  was  distinguished 


COMEDY.  69 

for  his  broad  humor  and  drollery,  and  also  for  the  in- 
genuity of  his  double  meaning.  We  have  from  him 
the  titles  of  twenty  comedies,  and  some  fragments. 

Crates  lived  in  the  time  of  Cratinus.  His  plays 
were  remarkable  also  for  broad  humor  and  drollery 
We  have  the  titles  of  eight  out  of  his  fourteen  plays. 
According  to  Aristotle,  he  was  the  first  Athenian  poet 
who  abandoned  the  iambic,  or  satyric,  form  of  comedy, 
and  made  use  of  general  stories  or  fables.  Very  likely 
the  law  alluded  to  above,  and  passed  in  440,  restrain- 
ing the  virulence  and  license  of  comedy,  had  some  share 
in  giving  his  plays  this  less  offensive  turn.  His  style  is 
said  to  have  been  gay  and  facetious,  yet  the  few  frag- 
ments of  his  writings  which  remain  are  of  a  serious  cast. 

Aristophanes,  the  prince  of  the  old  comedy,  was  born 
about  444,  and  probably  at  Athens.  His  father,  Phi- 
lippus,  had  possessions  in  ^Egina.  Aristophanes  ex- 
hibited for  the  first  time  in  427  ;  he  was  very  popular, 
but  of  his  private  history  we  know  nothing.  He  prob- 
ably died  at  the  age  of  seventy-six,  having  written 
fifty-four  plays,  of  which  eleven  are  extant.  The  fol- 
lowing epigram  is  found  in  the  "  Anthologia:  " 

At  Xdpires  re/iei/09  rt  \aj3eiv,  OTrep  ov^t 
i,  tyvxyv  evpov  'Api<rTO<f)dvov<}. 


The  titles  of  his  plays  are  as  follows  : 

1.  "  The  Banqueters."  The  poet  shows  in  this  piece 
that  gymnastic  exercises  would  be  advantageous  to  the 
health  of  the  people  ;  those  exercises  formed  a  part  of 
the  old  education. 

2.  "  The  Acharnians."     When  the  poet  paints  the 
sad  evils  of  war,  it  was  against  the  policy  of  Pericles. 


70  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

3.  "  The  Knights."    This  is  an  attack  against  dem- 
agogues, and  a  beautiful  and  true  picture  of  the  vices 
and  follies  of  the  Athenians  is  given  herein. 

4.  "  The  Wasps."    The  object  of  this  comedy  is  to 
attack  the  well-known  litigiousness  of  the  Athenian 
people. 

5.  "  The  Peace."  As  in  the  "  Acharnians,"  the  poet 
shows  the  miseries  and  privations  attendant  upon  a 
long-protracted  war. 

6.  "  Lysistrata ; "  7. 4<  Thesmophoriazusse ; "  8.  "Ec- 
clesiazuae."   In  these  three  plays,  which  are  the  coarsest 
of  Aristophanes's  dramas,  we  have  a  picture  of  the  vices 
prevalent  among  the  female  sex. 

9.  "  The  Birds."    In  this  play  Aristophanes  pretends 
to  say  that  there  was  no  remedy  for  the  corrupt  state 
of  Athenian  society,  except  in  an  entire  restoration  of 
the  social  system. 

10.  "  Plutus "  is  a  satiric  essay  upon  the  danger 
of  riches. 

11.  "The  Frogs"  continues  the  attack  upon  the 
Euripidean  tragedy,  which  was  begun  in  the  "  Thes- 
mophoriazusse."  , 

All  the  great  tragic  poets  were  now  dead,  and  Greek 
tragedy  had  arrived  at  its  period  of  decay.  Dionysus, 
therefore,  the  god  of  tragedy,  descends  to  the  infernal 
regions  in  search  of  a  poet.  ^Eschylus  and  Euripides 
contend  for  the  honor  of  returning  to  earth.  A  most 
amusing  contest  ensues,  in  which  the  peculiar  merits 
and  defects  of  each  poet  are  exhibited,  compared,  and 
criticised.  The  question  is  for  a  long  time  undecided, 
but,  at  last,  Euripides  is  ruined  by  his  dishonest 
sophistry.  He  suffers  a  double  defeat,  for  not  only  is 


COMEDY.  71 

JSschylus  selected  to  return  to  earth,  but  Sophocles 
is,  during  his  absence,  installed  in  the  tragic  throne 
below. 

The  comedy  of  "  The  Frogs "  is  distinguished  for 
the  beauty  of  its  choral  odes.  These  sweet  and  grace- 
ful poems  satisfactorily  prove  that,  while  the  author  of 
them  surpassed  in  wit  all  those  writers  who  were  emi- 
nent in  his  own  walk  of  literature,  he  equalled  in  ele- 
gance of  language  and  lyric  talent  the  tragic  poets 
themselves. 

12.  "  The  Clouds "  is  the  most  important  of  the 
tragedies  of  Aristophanes.  In  it  the  modern  school  of 
subtle  and  sophistical  philosophy  was  the  object  of  the 
poet's  attack.  The  philosophy  of  the  day  was  repre- 
sented by  Socrates.  In  looking  about  for  a  type  of  the 
philosopher,  Aristophanes  naturally  fixed  upon  the  one 
who  attracted  the  largest  share  of  public  attention ; 
who,  from  the  tenor  of  his  life  and  teaching,  had  made 
himself  the  greatest  number  of  enemies ;  and  who,  for 
his  eccentricities,  laid  himself  most  open  to  comic  ridi- 
cule. Socrates  was  the  most  notorious  of  all  who  pro- 
fessed to  be  public  instructors.  Besides,  he  was  an 
admirable  subject  for  caricature ;  his  ugly  face,  which 
was  even  copied  in  pottery  and  earthenware,  his  absent 
manners,  his  wild  stare  to  the  right  and  left  as  he 
walked,  his  bare  feet  and  careless  dress,  and  disregard 
of  the  common  practices  of  Athenian  polite  life,  pointed 
him  out  as  the  very  man  to  represent  the  professors  of 
that  fi€Te(0po<ro<f)ia,  or  soaring  wisdom,  which  disdains 
the  common  concerns  of  life. 

The  comedy  of  "  The  Banqueters,"  which  is  spoken 
of  first,  does  not  exist  any  more,  but  we  have  many 


?2  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

quotations  and  fragments  from  it.  It  is  to  be  regretted 
that  some  of  the  comedies  of  Aristophanes  are  so  lewd 
that  we  cannot  with  decency  read  them. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

PKOSE — HISTOET HEBODOTTJ8. 

WHILE  the  Greeks  were  cultivating  poetry,  the  Se- 
mitic races — Egyptian,  Assyrian,  Hebrew — had  histor- 
ical records.  The  reason  is  that  they  were  constituted 
generally  in  large  monarchies,  and  their  rulers  had  an 
interest  in  keeping  the  records  of  their  glorious  deeds. 
Greece  had  really  no  history  before  Herodotus,  who  has 
been  called  the  Father  of  History. 

Four  historians,  who  came  before  him,  have  mixed 
history  with  legend.  Many  fragments  remain  from 
those  historians,  which  have  been  collected  by  several 
German  Hellenists,  such  as  Clausen,  Sturz,  and  Creuzer. 

Pherecydes,  of  Leros,  a  small  island  near  Miletus, 
flourished  during  the  Persian  War,  and  lived  eighty- 
five  years.  He  gave  ten  books  of  family  records  of 
Athens.  He  was  much  consulted  by  the  later  mythog- 
raphers,  and  his  numerous  fragments  must  still  serve 
as  the  basis  of  many  mythological  inquiries. 

Charon  was  born  at  Lampsacus,  a  Milesian  colony. 
He  wrote  a  history  of  the  Persian  War,  but  he  was  a 
chronicler  rather  than  an  historian.  Those  early  histo- 
rians have  been  called  also  Horographers 
as  it  were,  giving  an  account  hour  by  hour. 


PROSE— HISTORY— HERODOTUS.  73 

Hellanicus,  of  Mitylene,  in  the  island  of  Lesbos,  was 
almost  a  contemporary  of  Herodotus.  He  wrote  nu- 
merous works  in  the  way  of  chronicles,  but  nothing 
complete  remains.  According  to  Thucydides,  and  sev- 
eral writers  who  do  not  belong  to  the  classical  period, 
il  n'a  pas  de  critique.  Some,  however,  pretend  that 
he  was  a  learned  and  diligent  compiler,  and  that,  so 
far  as  his  sources  went,  he  was  a  trustworthy  one.  He 
lived  eighty-five  years. 

Xanthus  was  a  native  of  Sardis  (Lydia).  This  point, 
however,  is  a  doubtful  one,  as  also  the  period  when  he 
nourished.  Xanthus  wrote  a  history  of  Lydia,  of  which 
some  considerable  fragments  have  come  down  to  us. 


HERODOTUS. 


Herodotus  was  born  at  Halicarnassus,  in  484.     His 
family,  which  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  in  the 


74  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE, 

city,  was  exposed  to  the  persecution  of  the  tyrant  Lyg- 
damis.  Herodotus,  at  a  very  early  age,  had  to  fly  to 
Sainos.  There  he  cultivated  the  Ionic  dialect,  and  there, 
too,  imbibed  the  Ionic  spirit  which  pervades  his  history. 
He  joined  in  an  attempt  which  was  made  in  order  to 
free  Samos  from  the  tyranny  of  Lygdamis.  The  at- 
tempt proved  successful,  but  soon  after  Herodotus  again 
left  his  country  and  settled  in  Magna  Graecia,  at  Thurii. 
It  is  there,  very  likely,  that  he  wrote  his  work,  that 
he  died  at  a  very  old  age,  and  was  buried. 

Herodotus  presents  himself  to  our  consideration  in 
three  points  of  view — as  a  traveller,  an  observer,  and  an 
historian.  The  extent  of  his  travels  may  be  ascertained 
pretty  clearly  from  his  history ;  but  the  order  in  which 
he  visited  each  place,  and  the  time  of  visiting,  cannot 
be  determined.  His  travels,  however,  must  have  occu- 
pied a  considerable  period  of  his  life,  and  he  would 
seem  to  have  first  entered  upon  them  in  the  full  strength 
of  body  and  mind,  and  after  having  been  completely 
educated. 

The  history  of  his  reading  his  work  at  the  Olympic 
games,  which  has  found  its  way  into  most  modern  nar- 
ratives, has  been  ably  discussed,  and,  it  may  be  said, 
has  been  disproved. 

With  a  simplicity  which  characterizes  his  whole 
work,  Herodotus  makes  no  display  of  the  great  extent 
of  his  travels ;  and  he  is  so  free  from  the  ordinary  vanity 
of  travellers,  that,  instead  of  acting  a  prominent  part 
in  his  narrative,  he  very  seldom  appears  at  all  in  it. 
Hence,  it  is  impossible  to  give  any  thing  like  an  accu- 
rate chronological  succession  of  his  travels.  In  Greece 
proper,  or  on  the  coasts  of  Asia  Minor,  there  is  scarcely 


PROSE-HISTORY— HERODOTUS.  75 

any  place  of  importance  with  which  he  is  not  perfectly 
familiar  from  his  own  observation,  and  where  he  did 
not  make  inquiries  respecting  this  or  that  particular 
point ;  we  may  mention  more  especially  the  oracular 
places,  such  as  Dodona  and  Delphi.  He  also  visited 
most  of  the  Greek  islands. 

As  for  his  travels  in  foreign  countries,  we  know 
that  he  sailed  through  the  Hellespont,  the  Propontis, 
and  crossed  the  Euxine  in  both  directions.  With  the 
Palus  Mseotis  he  was  imperfectly  acquainted.  He  fur- 
ther visited  Thrace  and  Scythia.  The  interior  of  Asia 
Minor  was  well  known  to  him,  especially  Lydia,  and 
so  was  also  Phoenicia.  He  visited  Tyre  for  the  special 
purpose  of  obtaining  information  respecting  the  worship 
of  Hercules.  Previous  to  this  he  had  been  in  Egypt, 
for  it  was  in  Egypt  that  his  curiosity  respecting  Her- 
cules had  been  excited. 

A  second  source  from  which  Herodotus  drew  his 
information  was  the  literature  of  his  country,  especially 
the  poetical  portion,  for  prose  had  not  yet  been  culti- 
vated very  extensively,  as  we  have  just  had  occasion  to 
observe.  With  the  poems  of  Homer  and  Hesiod  he 
was  perfectly  familiar,  though  he  attributed  less  his- 
torical importance  to  them  than  might  have  been  ex- 
pected. He  was  also  acquainted  with  the  poetry  of 
Alcseus,  Sappho,  Simonides,  Pindar,  and  ^Eschylus. 

The  object  of  the  work  of  Herodotus  is  to  give  an 
account  of  the  struggles  between  the  Greeks  and  Per- 
sians, from  which  the  former,  with  the  help  of  the 
lonians,  came  off  victorious.  He  traces  the  enmity 
between  Europe  and  Asia  to  the  mythical  times.  But 
he  rapidly  passes  over  the  mythical  ages  to  come  to 


76  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

Croesus,  King  of  Lydi#,  who  was  known  to  have  com- 
mitted acts  of  hostility  against  the  Greeks ;  this  in- 
duces him  to  give  a  full  history  of  Croesus  and  the 
kingdom  of  Lydia.  The  conquest  of  Lydia  by  the 
Persians,  under  Cyrus,  then  leads  him  to  relate  the 
rise  of  the  Persian  monarchy,  and  the  subjugation  of 
Asia  Minor  and  Babylon.  The  history  of  Cambyses, 
and  his  expedition  into  Egypt,  induce  him  to  enter 
into  the  details  of  Egyptian  history.  The  expedition 
of  Darius  against  the  Scythians,  causes  him  to  speak 
of  Scythia  and  the  north  of  Europe.  The  kingdom  of 
Persia  now  extended  from  Scythia  to  Gyrene,  and,  an 
army  being  called  in  by  the  Cyreneans  against  the 
Persians,  Herodotus  proceeds  to  give  an  account  of 
Gyrene  and  Libya.  In  the  mean  time  the  revolt  of  the 
lonians  broke  out,  which  eventually  brings  the  contest 
between  Persia  and  Greece  to  an  end.  An  account  of 
this  insurrection,  and  of  the  rise  of  Athens  after  the 
expulsion  of  the  Pisistratidse,  is  followed  by  what  prop- 
erly constitutes  the  principal  part  of  the  work,  and  the 
history  of  the  Persian  War  now  runs  on, in  a  regular 
channel  until  the  taking  of  Sestos. 

The  great  structure  of  the  history  thus  bears  a  strong 
resemblance  to  a  grand  epic  poem.  The  work,  how- 
ever, has  an  abrupt  termination,  and  is  probably  in- 
complete. The  division  of  the  history  into  nine  books, 
each  bearing  the  name  of  a  muse,  was  made  by  some 
grammarian,  for  there  is  no  indication  in  the  whole  com- 
position of  the  divisions  having  been  made  by  the  author 
himself.  The  entire  work  is  pervaded  by  a  profoundly 
religious  idea,  which  distinguishes  Herodotus  from  all 
other  Greek  historians.  In  order  to  form  a  fair  judg- 


PROSE— HISTORY— HERODOTUS.  77 

ment  of  the  historical  value  of  the  work  of  Herodotus, 
we  must  distinguish  those  parts  in  which  he  speaks 
from  his  own  observation,  or  gives  the  results  of  his 
own  investigations,  from  those  in  which  he  merely  re- 
peats what  he  was  told  by  priests,  interpreters,  guides, 
and  the  like.  In  the  latter  case,  he  was  undoubtedly 
often  deceived  ;  but  he  never  intrudes  such  reports  as 
any  thing  more  than  they  really  are,  and,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  his  natural  good  sense,  he  frequently  cautions 
his  reader  by  some  such  remarks  as — "I  know  this 
only  from  hearsay  ;  "  or,  "  I  have  been  told  so,  but  do 
not  believe  it."  But,  whenever  he  speaks  from  his 
own  observation,  Herodotus  is  a  real  model  of  truth- 
fulness and  accuracy,  and  the  more  those  countries 
of  which  he  speaks  have  been  explored  by  modern 
travellers,  the  more  firmly  has  his  authority  been  es- 
tablished. 

The  dialect  in  which  Herodotus  wrote  is  the  Ionic, 
intermixed  with  epic  or  poetical  expressions,  and  some- 
times even  with  Attic  and  Doric  forms.  This  pecu- 
liarity of  his  language  called  forth  a  number  of  lexi- 
cographical words  of  learned  grammarians,  all  of  which 
are  lost,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  remnants  in  the 
Homeric  glosses.  The  excellences  of  his  style  do  not 
consist  in  any  artistic  or  melodious  structure  of  his  sen- 
tences, but  in  the  antique  and  epic  coloring,  the  trans- 
parent clearness,  the  lively  flow  of  his  narrative,  and 
his  natural  and  unaifected  gracefulness.  There  is,  per- 
haps, no  work  in  the  whole  range  of  ancient  literature 
which  so  closely  resembles  a  familiar  and  homely  oral 
narration  as  that  of  Herodotus.  Its  reader  cannot  help 
feeling  as  though  he  were  listening  to  an  old  man,  who, 


78  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

from  the  inexhaustible  stores  of  his  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience, tells  his  stories  with  that  single-hearted  sim- 
plicity and  naivete,  which  are  the  marks  and  indica- 
tions of  a  truthful  spirit. 


CHAPTER  YI. 

HISTORY THTJCYDIDES — XENOPHON CTESIAS. 

Thucydides  is  the  inventor  of  philosophical  history. 
He  was  born  at  Halimus,  near  Athens,  in  471,  and  was 
the  son  of  Olonus  and  Hegesipyle.  Lucian  says  that 
Thucydides  was  present  when,  at  the  Olympian  games, 
Herodotus  read  his  history  before  the  assembled  Greeks, 
and  that  he  shed  tears ;  but  this  is  a  fable,  very  likely, 
as  well  as  the  incident  of  Herodotus  reading  his  history 
under  such  circumstances.  It  is  said  that  Thucydides 
was  instructed  in  oratory  by  Antiphon,  and  in  philos- 
ophy by  Anaxagoras.  We  have  no  trustworthy  evi- 
dence of  Thucydides  having  distinguished  himself  as 
an  orator,  though  from  his  speeches  we  may  conclude 
that  he  possessed  an  oratorical  talent.  He  was,  how- 
ever, employed  in  a  military  capacity,  and  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  Athenian  fleet  at  Thasos,  in  424,  when  he 
was  sent  to  Amphipolis  in  order  to  protect  that  city 
against  Brasidas,  a  Spartan  general.  He  arrived  too 
late,  and  was  on  that  account  exiled.  It  is  not  known 
where  he  went  to,  but  evidently  he  did  not  go  to  any 
place  which  was  under  Athenian  dominion.  It  is  very 
likely  that,  during  the  time  of  his  exile,  he  collected 


HISTORY— THUCYDIDES— XENOPHON— CTESIAS.          79 

materials  and  wrote  his  work.  The  exile  of  Thucydides 
lasted  twenty  years.  He  may  have  returned  to  Athens, 
in  403,  and,  according  to  some  very  reliable  accounts", 
he  was  assassinated. 

With  Thucydides  history  is  solid  instruction;  its 
incidents  convey  lessons  for  statesmen,  as  well  as  for 
individuals  in  any  state  of  life.  The  example  of  Thu- 
cydides has  been  followed  in  modern  times,  but  it  is  a 


THU  CTD  IDES. 


question  whether  there  has  been  any  who  has  surpassed 
him,  for  thoughtfulness  and  suggestiveness.  Thucyd- 
ides wrote  "  The  Peloponnesian  War ; "  he  gave  only 
twenty-one  years  of  that  war.  It  has  been  thought 
that  the  eighth  book  was  not  from  him,  because  there 
is  no  speech  in  it.  This  reason  is  a  weak  one ;  the 
slight  difference  which  exists  between  that  book  and 
the  other  ones,  allows  us  only  to  conclude  that  Thucyd- 


80  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

ides  had  no  time  to  revise  it.  For  that  book  cannot 
be  the  work  of  the  continuators  of  Thucydides;  neither 
is  it  by  Xenophon,  who  took  other  divisions  in  his  nar- 
ration ;  nor  by  Theopompus,  whose  style  is  quite  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  Thucydides.  This  writer  opens  his 
work  with  a  beautiful  sketch  of  Greek  history.  The 
war  was  a  war  of  races — a  contest  between  the  Dorian 
and  the  Ionian  races.  Thucydides,  though  an  Ionian, 
is  impartial.  It  was  also  a  contest  between  aristocratic 
Athens  and  demagogic  Sparta.  Thucydides  was  a  par- 
tisan of  aristocracy.  He  knew  by  experience  whither 
the  mob  could  lead  a  government.  The  authority  of 
Thucydides  was,  of  course,  very  great.  The  speeches 
form  the  most  prominent  part  of  the  work.  Cicero  crit- 
icises them  for  their  difficulty  and  obscurity,  but  Aris- 
totle praises  them,  saying,  with  reason,  that  Thucyd- 
ides did  not  write  his  book  in  order  to  satisfy  the  curi- 
osity of  the  present  age,  but  for  the  instruction  of  pos- 
terity ;  besides,  there  was  as  yet  no  treatise  on  the  art 
of  speaking  (oratory).  The  speeches  were  character- 
istic: laconic  on  the  side  of  the  (Spartans,  poetic  on 
the  side  of  the  Athenians.  Throughout  the  whole 
work  there  is  a  strict  love  of  truth ;  descriptions  are 
avoided.  The  qualities  in  which  Thucydides  has  sel- 
dom been  equalled  are  moral  wisdom  and  political 
sagacity.  The  episode  of  the  Corcyrian  "War,  in  which 
he  points  out  the  causes  of  the  sedition,  is  very  good. 
Thucydides  confined  himself  strictly  to  his  subject.  In 
recapitulation  these  two  historians  are  very  good. 

Xenophon,  the  son  of  Gryllus,  was  born  at  Athens, 
in  444.  He  was  a  soldier  in  his  youth,  and  saved  by 
Socrates  at  the  battle  of  Delium  (424).  At  the  insti- 


HISTORY— THUG  YDIDES— XENOPHON— CTESIAS.          8 1 

gation  of  Proxenus,  lie  joined  the  expedition  of  Cyrus 
the  Younger  .against  Artaxerxes  Mnemon.  After  the 
defeat  of  Cyrus  in  the  plain  of  Cunaxa,  he  retreated, 
with  ten  thousand  Greeks,  and,  after  fifteen  months, 
they  arrived  at  Trapezus  (Trebizond),  being  eight  thou- 
sand five  hundred  in  number.  Xenophon  could  never 
return  to  Athens ;  a  decree  had  been  issued  against 
him,  and  he  was  banished  for  two  reasons — he  was  a 
friend  of  Socrates,  and  a  friend  of  Sparta.  Agesilaus 
was  with  Xenophon  during  the  Asiatic  expedition  ;  he 
was  recalled  to  Greece,  and  Xenophon  accompanied 
him  to  Sparta,  and  accepted  from  that  king  a  country- 
seat,  near  Scyllus,  where  he  spent  a  long  time,  hunt- 
ing, entertaining  his  friends,  writing  some  of  his  works 
— in  one  word,  living  like  a  gentleman.  It  is  not 
known  how,  when,  or  where  he  died. 

The  extant  works  of  Xenophon  may  be  divided  into 
four  classes :  1.  Historical,  comprising  "  The  Anabasis,5' 
"  The  Hellenica,"  "  The  Cyropsedia,"  and  «  The  Life 
of  Agesilaus ; "  2.  Didactic,  comprising  "  The  Hip- 
parchicus,"  the  "  Treatise  on  Horsemanship,"  and  that 
on  "  Hunting ; "  3.  Political,  comprising  the  works  on 
the  republics  of  Sparta  and  Athens,  and  "  The  Reve- 
nues of  Athens ; "  4.  Philosophical,  comprising  "  The 
Memorabilia  of  Socrates,"  "  The  CEconomicus,"  "  The 
Symposium,  or  Banquet,"  "The  Hiero,"  and  "The 
Apology  of  Socrates." 

There  are  also  extant  certain  letters  attributed  to 
Xenophon,  but,  like  many  other  ancient  productions 
of  the  same  class,  they  are  not  genuine. 

1.  HISTORICAL  WORKS.— "  The  Anabasis  "  (Avd@a- 
o-t?),  in  seven  books,  is  the  work  by  which  Xenophon 


82  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

is  best  known.  The  first  book  gives  the  march  of 
Cyrus  to  the  neighborhood  of  Babylon,  and  ends  with 
his  death.  The  last  six  books  contain  the  account  of 
the  retreat  of  the  ten  thousand.  The  work  is  written 
in  an  easy,  agreeable  style,  and  gives  a  great  deal  of 
curious  information  respecting  the  country  traversed 
by  the  Greeks,  and  the  manners  of  the  people.  It  is 
full  of  interest  also  as  being  a  minute  detail  by  an  eye- 
witness of  the  hazards  and  adventures  of  the  army  in 
their  difficult  march  through  an  unknown  and  hostile 
country. 

"The  Hellenica"  (E\\ijvitca)  is  a  Greek  history, 
divided  into  seven  books,  and  comprising  the  space  of 
forty-eight  years,  from  the  time  when  the  history  of 
Thucydides  ends  to  the  battle  of  Mantinea  (362).  This 
book  has  little  merit  as  a  history,  for  Xenophon  does 
not  give  the  philosophy  of  the  events  which  he  relates 
like  Thucydides.  It  is  in  general  a  dry  narration,  and 
contains  little  to  move  or  affect,  with  the  exception  of 
a  few  incidents  better  narrated. 

"  The  Cyropaedia  "  (Kvpov  iraiSeta),  in  eight  books, 
is  a  kind  of  political  romance,  in  which  the  ethical 
element  prevails  ;  but,  since  it  is  based  upon  the  his- 
tory of  Cyrus  the  Elder,  it  is  commonly  ranked  among 
the  historical  works  of  Xenophon.  Its  object  is  to 
show  how  citizens  can  be  formed  to  be  virtuous  and 
brave,  and  to  exhibit  also  a  model  of  a  wise  and  good 
governor.  It  is  an  agreeable  exposition  of  principles 
under  the  form  of  a  history.  The  dying  speech  of 
Cyrus  is  worthy  of  a  pupil  of  Socrates. 

"  The  Agesilaus "  (^Ayrjcrt\ao<i)  is  a  panegyric  of 
Xenophon's  friend,  the  Lacedaemonian  king,  and  forms 


HISTORY— THUCYDIDES— XENOPHON— CTESIAS.         83 

another  proof  of  his  Spartan  predilections.  It  is  a 
kind  of  composition  in  which  failure  can  hardly  be 
avoided. 

2.  DIDACTIC  WORKS. — "The  Hipparchicus  "  ('ITT- 
irapxiKos)  is  a  treatise  on  the  duties  of  a  commander 
of  cavalry,  and  contains  many  military  precepts,  es- 
pecially for  the  choice  of  cavalrymen. 

The  "Treatise  on  Horsemanship"  (IinriKr))  was 
written  after  "  The  Hipparchicus." 

"  The  Cynegeticus "  (KvvrjyeTiKos)  is  a  treatise  on 
hunting,  an  amusement  of  which  Xenophon  was  very 
fond ;  and  on  the  dog,  and  the  breeding  and  training 
of  dogs,  on  the  various  kinds  of  game,  and  the  mode 
of  taking  them. 

3.  POLITICAL  WORKS. — Two  treatises  on  "  The  Re- 
publics of  Sparta  and  of  Athens  "  (AaiceScufjLovlwv  JToXt- 
rela,  'Adqvaicav  UoXtreta).     The  writer  clearly  prefers 
the  Spartan  to  the  Athenian  institutions. 

4.  PHILOSOPHICAL  WORKS. — "  The  Memorabilia  of 
Socrates  "  ^Airofjuvrj^oveviuLra  ^Wparou?),  in  four  books, 
contains  a  defence  of  the  memory  of  Socrates  against 
the  charge  of  irreligion,  and  of  corrupting  the  Athenian 
youth.     Socrates  is  represented  as  holding  a  series  of 
conversations,  in  which  he  develops   and  inculcates 
moral  doctrines  in  his  peculiar  fashion.     It  is  entirely 
a  practical  work,  such  as  we  might  expect  from  the 
practical  nature  of  Xenophon's  mind,  and  it  professes 
to  exhibit  Socrates  as  he  taught.   It  is  true  that  it  may 
exhibit  only  one  side  of  the  Socratic  argumentation, 
and  that  it  does  not  deal  in  those  subtleties  arid  verbal 
disputes  which  occupy  so  large  a  space  in  some  of 
Plato's  dialogues.     In  "  The  Memorabilia  "  we  have 


84  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

as  genuine  a  picture  of  Socrates  as  his  pupil  Xeno- 
phon  could  exhibit. 

"The  (Economicus "  (Oweoi/o/u/co?)  is  a  dialogue 
between  Socrates  and  Critobolus,  iii  which  Socrates 
begins  by  showing  that  there  is  an  art  called  (Economy 
(OlKovofutcij),  which  relates  to  the  administration  of  a 
household,  and  of  a  man's  property.  Cicero  copied 
some  passages  of  .this  book  in  his  treatise  on  "  Old 
Age."  The  seventh  chapter  is  on  the  duty  of  a  good 
wife.  This  is  one  of  the  best  treatises  of  Xenophon. 

"  The  Symposium  (SvfjLTrocriov),  or  Banquet  of  Phi- 
losophers," contains  a  delineation  of  the  character  of 
Socrates.  The  speakers  are  supposed  to  meet  at  the 
house  of  Callias,  a  rich  Athenian,  at  the  celebration 
of  the  great  Panathensea.  Socrates,  Critobulus,  An- 
tisthenes,  Charmides,  and  others,  are  the  speakers.  The 
accessories  of  the  entertainment  are  managed  with 
skill,  and  the  piece  is  interesting  as  a  picture  of  an 
Athenian  drinking-party,  and  of  the  amusement  and 
conversation  with  which  it  was  diversified. 

"  The  Hiero  "  (Te/>ow  %  Tvpawos)  is  a  dialogue  be- 
tween King  Hiero  and  Simon  ides,  in  which  the  king 
speaks  of  the  dangers  and  difficulties  incident  to  an 
exalted  station,  and  the  superior  happiness  of  a  pri- 
vate man. 

"  The  Apology  of  Socrates  "  ^AiroXoyUi  Ztotcpdrovs 
7T/305  rot»9  St/oKTra?)  is  not,  as  the  title  imports,  the  de- 
fence which  Socrates  made  on  his  trial,  but  it  contains 
the  reasons  which  determined  him  to  prefer  death, 
rather  than  to  humble  himself  by  asking  for  his  life 
from  his  prejudiced  judges.  This  treatise  is  inferior 
in  style  and  composition  to  all  the  other  works  of  Xeno- 


HISTORY— XEXOPHON— THUCYDIDES— CTESIAS.          85 

phon,  and  some  have  supposed,  on  that  account,  that 
it  was  not  from  him ;  but  Diogenes  Laertius  says  pos- 
itively that  Xenophon  wrote  that  apology,  and  that 
testimony  should  be  sufficient. 

Xenophon  was  an  accomplished  man.  As  a  writer 
he  deserves  praise  for  perspicuity  and  ease,  and  for 
these  qualities  he  has  in  all  ages  been  justly  admired. 
As  an  historical  writer  he  is  much  below  Thucydides. 
He  had  no  depth  of  reflection,  and  no  great  insight  into 
the  fundamental  principles  of  society.  Xenophon  was 
too  business-like  to  be  a  poet,  too  much  a  citizen  of  the 
world  to  be  a  patriot,  and  too  practical  to  be  a  deep 
philosopher.  In  order  to  complete  the  list  of  the  his- 
torical writers  of  the  classical  period  of  Greek  litera- 
ture, we  must  give  the  names  of — 

1.  Ctesias,  who  was  a  contemporary  of  Xenophon, 
and  lived  as  a  private  physician  at  the  court  of  Arta- 
xerxes  Mnemon,  and,  having  a  free  access  to  the  library 
of  the  palace,  he  collected  materials  for  a  history  of 
Persia,  and  of  India,  of  which  works  we  have  but  frag- 
ments.    He  composed,  besides  those  two  books  of  his- 
tory, three  other  works,  of  which  we  know  little  more 
than  the  titles. 

2.  Philistns,  a  Syracusan,  was  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated historians  of  antiquity,  though  unfortunately 
only  a  few  fragments  of  his  works  have  come  down  to 
us.    He  wrote  a  complete  history  of  Sicily. 

3.  Theopompus,  of  Chios,  a  celebrated  Greek  histo- 
rian, was  born  in  378.     The  titles  of  his  works,  none 
of  which  have  come  down  to  us,  are  an  "  Epitome  of 
the  History  of  Herodotus,"  a  "  History  of  Greece," 
"  The  History  of  Philip,"  and  many  orations. 


8G  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

4.  Ephorns,  who  was  a  contemporary  of  Philip  and 
Alexander,  flourished  in  340,  and  was  a  native  of  Cumae, 
in  JEolis.  The  most  celebrated  of  the  works  of  Epho- 
rus  was  a  "  General  History,"  in  thirty  books ;  we 
have  also  some  fragments. 

We  have  only  fragments  of  the  writings  of  the  his- 
torians of  Alexander  the  Great,  who  followed  in  the 
train  of  the  monarch,  or  who  were  his  companions  in 
arms.  These  were :  Anaximenes,  Callisthenes,  Cli- 
tarchus,  Ptolemseus,  Aristobulus,  Onesicritus,  ISTear- 
chus,  Chares,  Ephippus,  Marsyas,  Androsthenes,  and 
Medius. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PROSE ELOQUENCE. 

ELOQUENCE  is  one  of  the  principal  characteristics  of 
Greek  literature,  whether  poetical,  historical,  or  philo- 
sophical. The  heroes  of  Homer  are  all  orators.  The 
very  philosophers,  who  despised  eloquence  and  were 
the  rivals  of  the  orators,  could  not  help  being  eloquent ; 
and  Cicero  observes  that,  what  he  most  admired  on 
reading  "  Gorgias "  was,  that  Plato,  while  deriding 
orators,  showed  himself  the  most  consummate  and  ac- 
complished orator  of  them  all.  Eloquence  gives  a 
charm  to  the  writings  of  Herodotus,  Thucydides,  and 
Xeriophon.  But  Greek  eloquence,  in  its  perfection, 
owes  a  large  debt  of  gratitude  to  Thucydides.  It  is 
true  that  Cicero  denies  that  any  rhetorician  drew  the 
principles  of  his  art  from  the  speeches  of  Thucydides, 
but  the  Roman  orator  is  mistaken  in  this  case. 


PROSE— ELOQUENCE.  87 

Although  the  Greeks  were  by  nature  orators,  as 
they  were  poets,  oratory  as  an  art  is  of  Sicilian  origin. 
The  first  treatises  (re^vrj  peropiK^)  were  written  in 
Sicily  by  Corax,  Tisias,  and  especially  Gorgias,  in  the 
middle  of  the  fifth  century  before  Christ.  The  writ- 
ings of  these  rhetors  are  lost.  Gorgias  transported  that 
art  to  Athens,  where  a  school  was  soon  established,  and 
Alcibiades  was  one  of  the  first  disciples  of  Gorgias.  A 
great  rivalry  existed  at  the  beginning  between  the 
Sophists,  who  were  then  the  most  celebrated  teachers, 
and  the  Philosophers. 

Oratory  appears  to  have  been  much  abused  during 
the  Peloponnesian  War.  "We  may,  among  the  orators 
of  that  period,  who  were  really  distinguished  for  their 
talents,  give  the  names  of  Pericles,  Alcibiades,  and 
Cleophon.  With  such  a  public  as  the  one  composing 
the  Ecclesia  of  Athens,  it  was  difficult  for  an  orator  to 
be  honest.  Eloquence  was  so  much  abused  at  that 
time,  that  Aristophanes  said  that  a  scoundrel  only 
could  succeed  as  an  orator.  Whatever  may  be  the 
truth  of  this  assertion,  we  may  judge  by  the  rules  given 
by  Aristotle,  and  the  remarks  of  Longinus  about  the 
orations  of  Demosthenes,  that  it  was  no  less  difficult 
to  please  the  Athenian  ear  than  to  be  honest.  The 
orator  had  to  be  well  prepared  before  appearing  in 
public,  and,  in  order  to  succeed,  he  was  obliged  to  have 
quickness  and  tact  in  observing  the  state  of  feeling 
which  pervaded  the  assembly,  a  comprehensive  and 
retentive  memory,  a  perfect  knowledge  of  human  na- 
ture, and  of  the  resources  of  the  Greek  language,  and 
a  wide  range  of  political  and  historical  information. 

Greek  eloquence  arose  and  flourished  during  the 


88  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

period  of  Greek  liberty.  It  did  not  entirely  decay 
until  Athenian  independence  was  utterly  crushed. 
Both  died  together.  Freedom  has  always  been  favor- 
able to  oratory ;  it  finds  no  place  under  tyranny  and 
absolutism.  Hence,  while  eloquence  flourished  under 
the  protection  of  Athenian  democracy,  Sparta  never 
produced  an  orator.  The  canon  of  Attic  orators,  as 
settled  in  a  later  age  by  the  Alexandrian  grammarians, 
contains  ten  names,  given  in  chronological  order,  as 
follows : 

Antiphon,  born  at  Rhamnus  in  Attica,  in  479,  was 
a  teacher  of  rhetoric  and  composer  of  orations.  The 
democratic  party  condemned  him  to  death,  on  account 
of  his  oligarchical  opinions.  Thucydides,  a  pupil  of 
Antiphon,  speaks  of  his  master  with  the  highest  esteem, 
and  many  of  the  excellences  of  his  style  are  ascribed 
by  the  ancients  to  the  influence  of  Antiphon.  Anti- 
phon, as  we  have  said,  composed  speeches  for  others, 
who  delivered  them  in  the  courts  of  justice,  and,  as  he 
was  the  first  who  received  money  for  such  orations — a 
practice  which  subsequently  became  quite  general — he 
was  severely  attacked  and  ridiculed.  The  unpopularity 
which  was  the  result  of  these  attacks,  together  with  his 
own  reserved  character,  prevented  his  ever  appearing 
as  a  speaker,  either  in  the  courts  or  in  the  assembly ; 
and  the  only  time  he  spoke  in  public  was  in  411,  when, 
on  the  overthrow  of  the  oligarchical  government,  An- 
tiphon was  brought  to  trial  for  having  attempted  to 
negotiate  peace  with  Sparta,  and  was  condemned  to 
death.  His  speech  in  defence  of  himself  was  the  ablest 
which  has  ever  been  made  by  any  man  in  similar  cir- 
cumstances. Fifteen  harangues  are  extant  from  the 


PROSE—  ELOQUENCE.  89 

writings  of  Antiphon.  They  are  of  the  kind  (\6yot, 
foviKoi),  having  reference  to  criminal  proceedings,  and 
especially  deserve  attention  as  giving  an  idea  of  the 
way  of  proceeding  in  the  Greek  tribunals.* 

Andocides  was  born  at  Athens,  in  467.  He  was  also 
persecuted  by  the  democratic  party,  and  banished  from 
Athens.  As  an  orator  Andocides  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  held  in  very  high  esteem  by  the  ancients,  as 
he  is  seldom  mentioned.  We  have  three  orations  from 
him.  Andocides,  not  having  been  trained  in  any  of 
the  sophistical  schools  of  his  time,  his  orations  have  no 
mannerism,  but  they  are  simple,  and  free  from  rhetori- 
cal pomp  and  ornament.  Sometimes  his  style  is  dif- 
fuse, and  becomes  tedious  and  obscure.  The  best  of 
his  orations  is  the  one  on  "  The  Mysteries  "  (7re/>t  ra>v 
Mva"rripla>v\  which  he  pronounced  when  his  enemies 
accused  him  of  having  profaned  them. 

Lysias  was  born  at  Athens,  in  458.  He  lived  thirty- 
two  years  in  the  Athenian  colony  of  Thurii,  in  Italy. 
He  was  exiled  from  that  place  by  the  Dorians,  and  re- 
turned to  Athens.  He  was  also  banished  from  that 
city,  some  time  after  his  arrival,  by  the  thirty  tyrants, 
Lysias  then  went  to  Megara,  and,  in  402,  returned  to 
Athens,  where  he  died  in  378,  at  the  age  of  eighty. 
Lysias  was  one  of  the  most  fertile  writers  of  orations 
that  Athens  ever  produced,  for  there  were  in  antiquity 
no  less  than  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  orations 
which  were  current  under  his  name.  Of  these  orations 


*  Besides  the  Uyoi  foviKoi  the  ancients  had  two  other  kinds 
of  public  orations  —  "kbyoi  dq/io-yopiicoi,  or  discourses  pronounced 
in  the  assemblies  of  the  people  ;  and  %,6-yoi  SiKoviKoi,  or  judiciary 

discourses. 


90  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

only  thirty-five  are  extant,  and  even  among  these  some 
are  incomplete.  "We  have  fragments  of  fifty -three 
others.  Most  of  these  orations  were  composed  after 
his  return  from  Thurii.  How  highly  the  orations  of 
Lysias  were  valued  in  antiquity,  may  be  inferred  from 
the  great  number  of  persons  who  wrote  commentaries 
upon  them.  The  diction  of  Lysias  is  perfectly  pure ; 
his  language  is  natural  and  simple,  but,  at  the  same 
time,  noble  and  dignified ;  it  is  always  clear  and  lucid. 
The  copiousness  of  his  style  does  not  injure  its  pre- 
cision, nor  can  his  rhetorical  embellishments  be  con- 
sidered as  impairing  the  charming  simplicity  of  his 
manner  of  expression.  His  delineations  of  character 
are  always  striking,  and  true  to  life.  But  what  char- 
acterizes his  orations  above  those  of  all  other  ancients, 
is  the  indescribable  gracefulness  and  elegance  which 
pervades  all  of  them,  without  in  the  least  impairing 
their  power  and  energy. 

Isocrates  also  was  born  at  Athens,  in  436.  He  was 
called  the  great  master  of  eloquence.  He  founded  a 
school  of  rhetoric,  and  the  princes  of  eloquence  were 
formed  there.  Isocrates  took  a  proper  view  of  the  aim 
of  eloquence,  despised  the  subtleties  of  the  Sophists,  and 
applied  ornaments  in  a  just  proportion.  Isocrates  was 
never  a  public  man ;  he  was  naturally  timid  and  of  a 
weakly  constitution,  and,  on  that  account,  he  abstained 
from  taking  any  direct  part  in  the  political  affairs  of 
his  country.  He  resolved  to  contribute  toward  the  de- 
velopment of  eloquence,  by  teaching  and  writing.  He 
established  his  first  school  at  Chios,  and  afterward 
transferred  it  to  Athens.  Isocrates  killed  himself  after 
the  battle  of  Chaeronea,  being  ninety-nine  years  old. 


PROSE— ELOQUENCE.  91 

The  language  of  Isocrates  is  the  most  refined  Attic, 
and  thus  formed  a  great  contrast  to  the  pure  and  nat- 
ural simplicity  of  Lysias,  as  well  as  the  sublime  power 
of  Demosthenes.  His  artificial  style  is  more  elegant 
than  graceful,  and  more  ostentatious  than  pleasing. 
The  carefully-rounded  periods,  the  frequent  applica- 
tions of  figurative  expressions,  are  features  which  re- 
mind us  of  the  Sophists ;  and,  although  his  sentences 
flow  very  melodiously,  yet  they  become  wearisome  and 
monotonous  by  the  perpetual  recurrence  of  the  same 
over-refined  periods,  which  are  not  relieved  by  being 
interspersed  with  shorter  and  easier  sentences.  In  say- 
ing this,  however,  we  must  remember  that  Isocrates 
wrote  his  orations  to  be  read,  and  not  with  a  view 
to  their  recitation  before  the  people.  We  have  from 
Isocrates  twenty-one  orations ;  eight  of  them  belong  to 
the  kind  \6yot  SiKaviKot,  five  are  \6yoi,  Brjfj,ojopiKol,  three 
are  of  a  inoral  kind,  and  four  are  eulogies.  The  most 
remarkable  is  the  discourse  entitled  "  Panegyrical  Ora- 
tion "  (navyyvpiKos),  a  discourse  which  was  intended 
to  be  pronounced  before  the  assembled  people. 

Isaeus  was  a  native  of  Chalcis,  or,  as  some  say,  of 
Athens.  Yery  little  is  known  about  his  life,  although 
he  established  a  rhetorical  school  at  Athens,  and  De- 
mosthenes is  said  to  have  been  one  of  his  pupils.  Eleven 
orations  are  extant  from  Isaeus.  They  are  all  on  sub- 
jects connected  with  disputed  inheritances,  and  Isaeus 
appears  to  have  been  particularly  well  acquainted  with 
the  laws  relating  to  inheritance.  The  oratory  of  Isaeus 
resembles  in  many  points  that  of  his  teacher,  Lysias. 
The  style  of  both  is  pure,  clear,  and  concise. 

JEschines,  the  son  of  Atrometus  and  Glaucothea, 


92  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATUEE. 

was  born  in  389,  and,  in  bis  youtb,  be  appears  to  bave 
assisted  bis  father,  who  kept  a  small  scbool ;  be  next 
acted  as  secretary  to  Antipbon,  tben  he  fried  bis  for- 
tune as  an  actor,  for  which  he  was  provided  by  Nature 
with  a  strong  and  sonorous  voice.  After  this  be  left 
the  stage  and  engaged  in  military  services,  in  which, 
according  to  his  own  account,  he  gained  great  distinc- 
tion. ^Eschines  afterward  came  forward  at  Athens  as 
a  public  speaker,  and  the  military  fame  which  he  had 
now  acquired  established  his  reputation.  During  the 
first  period  of  his  public  career  JEschines  was,  like  all 
other  Athenians,  zealously  engaged  in  directing  the 
attention  of  his  fellow-citizens  to  the  growing  power 
of  Philip,  and  exhorted  them  to  check  it  in  its  growth. 
In  347  he  was  sent,  along  with  Demosthenes,  as  one 
of  the  ten  ambassadors  to  negotiate  a  peace  with  Philip. 
From  this  time  he  appears  as  the  friend  of  the  Mace- 
donian party,  and  as  the  opponent  of  Demosthenes. 

^Eschines  and  Demosthenes  were  at  the  head  of 
two  parties,  into  which  not  only  Athens  but  all  Greece 
were  divided,  and  their  political  enmity  created  and 
nourished  perpetual  hatred.  The  last  great  event  in 
the  public  life  of  JEschines  was  his  prosecution  of  Ctes- 
iphon,  in  the  question  of  the  crown.  When  JEscbines 
lost  his  cause,  not  having  obtained  one-fifth  of  the  votes 
of  the  judges,  he  was  then  compelled  to  leave  Athens, 
being  unable  to  pay  the  penalty  in  that  case  required 
by  the  law.  ^Eschines  went  to  Asia  Minor ;  he  spent 
several  years  in  Ionia  and  Caria,  occupying  himself 
with  teaching  rhetoric,  and  anxiously  waiting  for  the 
return  of  Alexander  to  Europe.  After  the  death  of 
Alexander  he  returned  to  Khodes,  where  probably  be 


PROSE— ELOQUENCE.  93 

died.  The  conduct  of  ^Eschines  has  been  censured  by 
the  writers  of  all  ages ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  arrive  at 
the  complete  truth,  from  the*  perplexing  history  of  a 
period,  when  the  principal  authorities  are  two  political 
rivals,  whose  statements  about  the  matter  under  con- 
sideration are  often  in  direct  contradiction  to  one  an- 
other. But,  if  the  integrity  of  ^Eschines  is  suspected,  his 
great  abilities  both  as  a  popular  leader  and  an  orator  are 
undisputed ;  he  was  the  rival,  and,  according  to  Cicero 
and  Quintilian,  all  but  the  equal  of  Demosthenes.  In 
the  lucid  arrangement  of  his  matter,  and  in  the  ease 
and  clearness  of  his  narrative,  he  has  never  been  sur- 
passed ;  and,  if  he  falls  below  Demosthenes  in  any  qual- 
ity of  an  orator,  it  is  in  powerful  invective  and  vehement 
passion.  The  facility  and  felicity  of  his  diction,  the 
boldness  and  vigor  of  his  descriptions,  carry  away  his 
reader  now,  as  they  must  have  carried  away  his  hearers 
in  former  times.  We  have  only  three  orations  from 
-ZEschines. 


Lycurgns,  the  namesake  of  the  great  Lacedemonian 


94  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE 

lawgiver,  was  born  at  Athens,  in  396.  He  was  a  dis- 
tinguished administrator,  and  he  left  the  reputation  of 
a  very  honest,  unflinching  character.  The  people  loved 
him,  and  public  honors  were  paid  to  him  after  his 
death.  Of  the  fifteen  orations  of  Lycurgus,  which  are 
mentioned  by  Plutarch,  only  one  has  come  down  to 
us.  Diodorus  of  Sicily  greatly  praises  Lycurgus's  elo- 
quence, but  Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus  says  that  he 
was  deficient  in  ease  and  elegance.  This  judgment  is 
true  concerning  the  style  of  that  orator. 

Demosthenes,  the  greatest  of  the  Greek  orators,  was 
the  son  of  Demosthenes,  and  was  born  in  the  Attic 
borough  of  Pseania,  in  385.  He  raised  eloquence  to  the 
highest  degree  of  style,  reasoning,  composition,  skill, 
and  vigor.  The  position  of  Demosthenes,  when  he  had 
to  interfere  in  the  administration,  was  a  difficult  one. 
Athens  had  not  to  fight  for  its  supremacy  any  more, 
but  for  its  independence,  and  patriotism  was  extinct  in 
some  of  the  orators,  especially  in  ^Eschines.  They 
were  sold  to  Philip.  Demosthenes,  on  the  contrary, 
showed  himself  a  real  patriot. 

His  father  died  when  he  was  young,  and  his  guar- 
dian took  his  property  from  him ;  but,  by  his  talent, 
Demosthenes  recovered  a  great  part  of  it.  Demos- 
thenes studied  eloquence  with  energy,  we  might  say 
with  heroism.  The  physical  disadvantages  under  which 
he  labored  are  well  known,  and  the  manner  in  which 
he  surmounted  them  is  often  quoted  as  an  example  to 
encourage  others  to  persevere.  He  was  naturally  of  a 
weak  constitution  ;  he  had  a  feeble  voice,  an  indistinct 
articulation,  and  a  shortness  of  breath.  His  first  office 
was  the  one  of  Choregus,  and,  in  the  discharge  of  its 


PROSE— ELOQUENCE.  95 

functions,  he  manifested  his  talent  for  eloquence  in  the 
condemnation  of  Medias,  who  had  assailed  him.  It 
was  about  the  year  355  that  Demosthenes  began  to 
obtain  reputation  as  a  speaker  in  the  public  assembly. 
It  was  by  his  eloquence  that  he  prevented  an  expe- 
dition to  Eubcea,  and  avoided  a  war  with  Persia.  For 


DEMOSTHENES. 


fourteen  years  he  struggled  against  Philip,  and,  when 
that  prince  attacked  the  northern  cities  of  Greece  allied 
to  Athens,  Demosthenes,  in  his  three  "  Olynthiacs," 
discovered  more  plainly  the  plans  of  Philip;  but  he 
could  not  persuade  the  Athenians  in  time,  and  Olynth 
was  taken.  Philip  then  interfered  openly  in  the  af- 
fairs of  Greece,  and  was  appointed  the  chief  of  the  Am- 
phictyonic  league.  It  was  the  last  step  toward  inva- 
sion ;  Demosthenes  pronounced  at  that  time  his  last 
"  Philippics."  *  The  party  of  Philip,  headed  by  ^Es- 
chines,  became  stronger.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the 

*  This  name  has  been  retained  since  as  synonymous  with  in- 
vective discourses. 


96  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

contest  for  the  crown  took  place.  After  the  death  of 
Philip,  Alexander,  with  reluctance,  allowed  Demos- 
thenes to  remain  at  Athens.  Having  been  accused 
of  accepting  the  bribes  of  Harpalus,  he  was  exiled, 
but  recalled  soon  after.  After  the  death  of  Alex- 
ander, hearing  that  Antipater  was  marching  on  Ath- 
ens, he  fled  to  the  island  of  Calauria  and  poisoned 
himself. 

We  have  sixty  orations  from  Demosthenes ;  besides 
these  orations  we  have  fifty-six  exordia  {Upoolfna 
SrjfMiyopifca).  His  discourses  are  of  three  kinds :  de- 
liberative, judicial,  and  studied  or  show  speeches  (\6yoi 
eTTiSeiKTifcoty  ;  seventeen  belong  to  the  first  class,  forty- 
one  to  the  second  class,  and  two  t6  the  third.  The 
best  are  the  twelve  "  Philippics,"  in  which  are  included 
the  three  "  Olynthiacs ;"  these  are  deliberative  dis- 
courses. The  best  in  the  judicial  kind  is  the  discourse 
entitled  "Concerning  the  Crown"  (Ilepl  Sre^dvov). 
Demosthenes  had  been  twice  crowned  in  the  theatre 
during  the  Dionysiac  festival.  In  the  second  year  of 
the  one  hundred  and  tenth  Olympiad,  Ctesiphon,  who 
was  then  president  of  the  Senate,  had  a  decree  passed 
by  that  body,  that,  if  the  people  approved,  Demos- 
thenes should  be  crowned  at  the  approaching  Diony- 
siac festival,  in  the  theatre,  as  a  recompense  for  the 
disinterested  manner  in  which  he  had  filled  various 
offices,  and  for  the  services  which  he  had  constantly 
rendered  the  state ;  but,  before  this  matter  was  brought 
before  the  people  for  confirmation,  ./Eschines  presented 
himself  as  the  accuser  of  Ctesiphon.  He  charged  him 
with  having  violated  the  laws,  in  proposing  to  crown 
a  public  functionary  before  the  latter  had  given  an  ac- 


PROSE— ELOQUENCE.  97 

count  of  the  manner  in  which  he  had  discharged  his 
office,  etc.  He  concluded  by  demanding  that  a  fine 
of  fifty  talents  be  imposed  upon  Ctesiphon.  On  ac- 
count of  political  difficulties,  the  aifair  remained  for 
some  time  pending ;  but,  eight  years  later,  ^Eschines 
again  brought  forward  his  accusation.  ^Eschines  there- 
upon pronounced  his  famous  harangue,  to  which  De- 
mosthenes replied.  This  speech  of  Demosthenes  is  re- 
garded, and  justly  so,  not  only  as  his  chef-d'oeuvre,  but 
as  the  most  perfect  specimen  that  eloquence  has  ever 
produced.  Such  is  the  opinion  of  Dionysius  of  Hali- 
carnassus.  Modern  critics  come  to  the  same  conclu- 
sion. The  two  discourses  of  the  kind  \6yot,  emSeiKTifcoi 
(studied  or  set  speeches)  are  evidently  spurious.  The 
one,  tWra</>to9  A^yo?,  is  an  eloge  on  the  Athenians 
who  had  perished  at  Chaeronea;  the  other,  epam/co<? 
Xo709,  is  written  in  praise  of  the  beauty  of  the  young 
Epicrates.  Three  things  are  found  in  the  discourses  of 
Demosthenes,  which  must  have  been  the  cause  of  the 
mighty  impression  made  upon  the  minds  of  his  hearers : 
1.  It  was  their  pure  and  ethical  character — each  sen- 
tence exhibits  Demosthenes  as  a  true  patriot ;  2.  It  was 
his  intellectual  superiority — the  subject  is  well  ar- 
ranged, the  arguments  are  strong  and  properlv  dis- 
posed, and  the  objections  clearly  refuted ;  3.  It  was 
the  magic  force  of  his  language,  which  was  at  the  same 
time  majestic  and  simple,  rich  but  not  bombastic, 
strange  and  familiar,  solemn  but  not  too  much  orna- 
mented, grave  and  yet  pleasing,  concise  and  fluent, 
sweet  and  impressive. 

Hyperides,  born  at  Athens,  in  396,  was  a  distin- 
guished orator,  and  even  may  be  compared  with  De- 
5 


98  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

mosthenes.  There  is  more  wit  in  his  discourses.  He 
also  was  a  victim  of  political  disasters,  and  was  killed 
by  Antipater,  at  ^Egina,  where  he  fled  after  the  battle 
of  Cranon  (322).  Unfortunately,  we  have  no  oration 
from  him.  Libanius,  however,  gives  as  one  of  his  dis- 
courses one  found  among  the  orations  of  Demosthenes 
(Ilepl  TWV  7T/309  A\egav8p6v  (rvvdrj/ctov),  concerning  the 
treaties  with  Alexander. 

Dinarchus,  a  native  of  Corinth,  where  he  was  born 
in  360.  He  is  the  last  of  the  ten  orators  composing 
the  Attic  canon.  He  went  very  early  to  Athens.  Evi- 
dently Dinarchus  owes  his  celebrity  to  the  decline  of 
the  art.  He  wrote  one  hundred  and  sixty  discourses, 
but  we  have  only  three  extant  from  him.  Those  three 
discourses  enable  us  to  form  an  opinion  upon  the  merits 
of  Dinarchus,  and  we  find  that  the  opinion  expressed 
above,  when  we  observed  that  his  celebrity  is  due  to 
the  decline  of  the  art,  is  quite  correct.  It  is  difficult 
to  say  whether  Dinarchus  had  any  oratorical  talent  or 
not,  for  there  is  surely  no  originality  of  mind. 

There  was  living  at  that  time  a  man  who  was  an 
orator,  but  who  may  be  considered  as  the  shame  of  the 
art  of  oratory  at  that  period.  It  was  Demades,  who 
was  venal,  dishonest,  and  corrupt  in  his  morals.  He 
became  an  object  of  disgust  to  his  friends  themselves. 
Antipater  had  him  put  to  death  in  319. 


PROSE— PHILOSOPHY.  99 

CHAPTEE  Vin. 

PKO8E PHILOSOPHY. 

WE  have  seen  that  philosophy,  before  Pericles,  was 
more  or  less  materialistic.  Three  divisions  are  found 
in  it :  1.  The  school  of  Thales,  denying  the  existence 
of  a  first  cause,  and  admitting  the  eternity  of  matter ; 
2.  The  Pythagorean  school,  trying  to  explain  the  phe- 
nomena, either  physical  or  metaphysical,  by  mathemat- 
ical analogies,  and  not  by  some  mechanical  power  as  be- 
fore— they  admit  the  existence  of  a  first  cause ;  3.  The 
Eleatic  school,  which  was  a  sort  of  eclectic  school ;  it 
examined  the  views  of  its  predecessors,  and  brought 
them  to  the  test  of  logical  principles.  This  school  be- 
came spiritualistic.  The  philosophers  who  wrote  im- 
mediately before  the  Socratic  period,  belonged  rather 
to  this  school ;  among  them  are  Leucippus  and  Democ- 
ritus.  This  last  philosopher  wrote  many  books,  which 
have  been  praised  by  Cicero  for  the  beauty  of  their 
style,  but  only  fragments  have  come  down  to  us.  The 
philosophers  did  not  give  a  system  which  was  suf- 
ficiently adequate ;  hence  skepticism,  under  various 
forms,  made  its  appearance,  and  was  found  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  teachings  of  all  those  philosophers. 

The  Sophists  then  came,  and  laid  aside  the  former 
systems.  The  starting-point  of  the  sophistical  philos- 
ophy was  the  famous  maxim — TvwOi  <reavr6v.  It  was 
a  good  starting-point,  since  the  former  systems  had 
failed  to  establish  a  reasonable  system  of  philosophy. 
The  Sophists  are  better  known  as  the  educators  of  the 


100  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

youth  at  Athens,  and  they  were  accused  of  corrupting 
their  pupils.  To  represent  the  Sophists  as  wilful  and 
designing  impostors,  whose  object  was  to  corrupt  the 
public  morality,  is  going  too  far.  It  is  enough  to  say 
that  they  professed  to  qualify  the  youth  of  the  leading 
families  to  shine,  and  become  influential  in  a  degener- 
ate state  of  society ;  they  did  not  think  that  they 
should  teach  their  pupils  to  aspire  to  higher  and  nobler 
views.  A  low  moral  standard  was  set  up  and  admitted, 
and  they  did  not  care  to  elevate  it.  Still,  this  was  not 
general  among  the  Sophists. 

If,  now,  we  turn  from  the  influence  of  the  Sophists 
on  the  spirit  of  their  age,  and  set  ourselves  to  inquire 
what  they  did  for  the  improvement  of  written  compo- 
sitions, we  are  constrained  to  set  a  very  high  value  on 
their  services.  The  formation  of  an  artificial  prose 
style  is  due  entirely  to  the  Sophists,  and,  although  they 
did  not  at  first  proceed  according  to  a  rigid  method, 
they  may  be  considered  as  having  laid  a  foundation  for 
the  polished  diction  of  Plato  and  Demosthenes.  The 
Sophists  of  Greece  proper,  as  well  as  those  of  Sicily, 
made  language  the  object  of  their  study,  but  with  this 
distinction,  that  the  former  aimed  at  correctness,  and 
the  latter  at  beauty  of  style.  The  view  here  taken  of 
the  Sophists  is  the  one  that  is  commonly  entertained 
respecting  them.  According  to  the  common  notion, 
they  were  a  sect;  but,  according  to  several  writers, 
they  were  a  class  or  profession. 

We  may  here  add  a  few  names  to  the  list  of  the 
philosophers  who  belong  to  the  period  anterior  to  the 
sophistical  school : 

Diogenes  of  Apollonia,  born  in  Crete,  in  498,  is  some- 


PROSE— PHILOSOPHY.  101 

what  spiritualistic.  He  admits  a  first  cause,  but  that 
first  cause  is  the  soul  of  the  universe ;  that  soul  is 
spread  everywhere,  hence  all  the  beings  have  a  soul. 
He  was  a  disciple  of  Anaxagoras,  and  belongs  to  the 
school  of  the  dynamical  philosophers.  According  to 
him,  air  is  the  primary  element.  We  have  some  frag- 
ments of  his  book  on  Nature  (Ilepl  ^uo-ew?),  which  was 
much  praised  by  the  ancients. 

Anaxagoras  was  a  native  of  Clazomense,  where  he 
was  born  in  500.  He  admits  a  first  cause — eternal, 
creative,  first  motor ;  it  is  the  vovs,  which  differs  from 
tyvXij,  like  animus  and  anima.  He  denies  the  evidence 
of  the  senses,  as  an  infallible  motive  of  certitude,  hence 
skepticism.  Anaxagoras  was  very  learned,  and  he  had 
Pericles  among  his  pupils.  We  have  some  fragments 
of  a  book  on  Nature,  which  was  of  great  merit.  They 
may  be  seen  in  Simplicius,  a  Greek  commentator  of 
Aristotle,  in  the  seventh  century  A.  c. 

Parmenides  was  born  at  ^Elea,  in  520,  and  was  a 
poet  and  philosopher.  He  is  altogether  a  materialist, 
making  the  soul  itself  a  material  substance ;  he  admits, 
of  course,  the  eternity  of  matter.  Some  fragments 
have  come  down  to  us,  through  Sextus  Empiricus  and 
Simplicius,  about  his  poem  Ilepl  <£fo-eo>9.  It  is  said  by 
Suidas  that  he  composed  several  prose  writings,  but 
this  is  surely  not  exact.  He  was  a  friend  of  Socrates, 
and  Plato  gives  a  dialogue  which,  he  pretends,  took 
place  between  him  and  Socrates. 

Zeno,  called  the  JEleatic,  who,  according  to  Seneca, 
reached  the  highest  point  of  skepticism.  We  have  no 
writing  from  him,  but  we  know  he  was  the  first  who 
wrote  his  arguments  under  the  form  of  dialogues. 


102  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

Melissus  was  the  teacher  of  Themistocles,  and  was 
born  at  Samos,  in  482.  He  was  also  a  philosopher  and 
a  poet.  Melissus  was  an  idealist. 

Empedocles  was  born  at  Agrigentum,  about  444,  and 
was  a  poet,  an  historian,  a  philosopher,  and  especially 
a  surgeon.  But  little  is  known  of  his  doctrine,  or  of 
his  life  and  death.  Generally  he  is  considered  as  a  pan- 
theist. Deity  is  every  thing ;  every  thing  is  an  appar- 
ent form  of  God.  We  have  some  fragments  from  him, 
which  have  been  lately  published  at  Leipsic  by  Sturz. 

Socrates,  born  at  Athens,  in  468,  was  first  a  sculp- 
tor, and  then  a  soldier.  He  studied  philosophy,  and 
gave  a  system  which  made  a  complete  revolution  in 
philosophy.  His  life  was  apparently  very  useful,  and 
a  model,  as  far  as  such  a  word  may  apply  to  a  case 
which  belongs  to  paganism.  He  was  attacked  by  Ar- 
istophanes, fell  into  disgrace  among  the  people,  was 
accused  of  several  crimes,  and  sentenced  to  death.  H« 
was  seventy  years  old  when  he  died. 

Socrates  was  not  a  writer.  His  philosophy  may 
be  divided  into  three  parts :  1.  Concerning  God ;  2. 
Concerning  the  immortality  of  the  soul ;  3.  His  moral 
theory.  Socrates  admits  one  God — first  cause,  intelli- 
gent, omnipresent,  omniscient,  ruling  every  thing ;  the 
soul  is  a  portion  of  God,  and  is  immortal.  He  gives 
nothing  definite  about  the  other  life ;  our  soul  being  a 
portion  of  the  Deity,  our  duty  must  be  to  render  our- 
selves independent  from  sensual  appetites,  and,  con- 
sequently to  mortify  ourselves  and  to  practise  virtue. 
Virtue,  according  to  Socrates,  is  synonymous  with  wis- 
dom, hence  the  end  of  our  life  is  the  cultivation  of  the 
intellect,  and  the  acquisition  of  knowledge. 


PROSE— PHILOSOPHY.  103 

The  doctrine  is  known  by  the  writings  of  his  dis- 
ciples ;  it  gave  rise  to  the  schools  which  appeared  after 
him,  and  were  called  from  the  places  where  they  had 
been  established.  We  shall  give  them  briefly,  since 
the  present  sketch  belongs  to  the  history  of  philosophy 
rather  than  to  that  of  ancient  literature : 

1.  THE  CYKENAIC  SCHOOL. — This  school  was  estab- 
lished by  Aristippus,  in  465.     It  was  an  Epicurean 
school.   The  principle  of  Aristippus  was,  that  all  things 
were  subservient  to  the  use  and  pleasure  of  man.     Soc- 
rates had  taught  that  happiness  was  the  chief  good, 
and  that  it  should  be  sought  for  in  intellectual  pleas- 
ure.     Aristippus   also  accepts,  like  his  master,  that 
happiness  is  the  chief  good,  but  that  it  should  be  sought 
for  in  sensual  pleasures.     Diogenes  Laertius  gives  a 
long  list  of  books  whose  authorship  is  ascribed  to  Aris- 
tippus, though  he  also  says  that,  according  to  several 
authors,  he  wrote  nothing.     Among  these  are  treatises 
Ilepl  IlaiSelas,  Ilepl  Aperrjf,  Ilepl  Tv^r)?,   and  many 
others.    Some  epistles  attributed  to  him  are  deservedly 
rejected  as  forgeries  by  Bentley. 

2.  THE  MEGABIC  SCHOOL. — This  school  was  founded 
by  Euclid,  the  namesake  of  the  great  Alexandrian 
geometer.    The  character  of  his  philosophy  was  mostly 
logic.      Euclid,  who  was  a  native  of  Megara,  had  a 
dialectical  turn  of  mind,  and  was  inclined  to  subtle 
disputations;    he  adopted  in  reasoning  the  indirect 
method,  that  is,  the  reductio  ad  dbsurdum.     Euclid 
was  the  author  of  six  dialogues,  but  no  one  of  them 
has  come  down  to  us.     Stilpon  and  Menedenms  were 
his  disciples. 

3.  THE  CYNIC  SCHOOL. — The  name  given  to  this 


104  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

school  comes  very  likely  from  the  name  of  the  place, 
Cynosarges,  where  it  was  taught.  The  founder  of  the 
Cynic  school  was  Antisthenes,  a  native  of  Athena,  and 
a  disciple  of  Socrates.  The  philosophy  taught  there, 
as  in  the  Cyrenaic  school,  was  of  a  mere  ethical  char- 
acter. Antisthenes,  born  in  poverty,  taught  a  con- 
tempt for  external  goods,  and,  in  his  outward  garb  and 
appearance,  he  was  himself  a  type  and  an  example  of 
his  teaching ;  professing  poverty  as  a  duty,  he  carried 
his  contempt  for  luxury  to  such  an  extent  that  he  was 
reproved  by  Socrates  himself.  He  could  keep  but  one 
pupil  until  his  death.  This  was  Diogenes,  called  the 
Cynic,  and  whose  life  is  generally  known.  Antisthenes 
was  a  skeptic  in  metaphysics,  and  his  principle  of  mo- 
rality was  that  virtue  is  sufficient  for  happiness,  and 
that  any  thing  else  must  be  despised.  We  have  frag- 
ments of  the  writings  of  Antisthenes ;  they  were  col- 
lected in  1842,  at  Zurich. 

4.  THE  OLD  ACADEMY. — This  is  the  name  given  to 
the  school  of  Plato,  from  Academia  ('A/ca&rjpla),  a  pub- 
lic grove  or  garden  in  the  suburbs  of  Athens,  where 
Plato  established  his  school.  The  Academy  was  di- 
vided into  the  Old,  the  Middle,  and  the  New.  The 
first  one  accepted  purely  the  doctrine  of  the  master; 
the  Middle  Academy  introduced  the  skeptical  doctrine 
of  uncertainty ;  and  the  New  Academy  brought  in  what 
has  been  termed  the  doctrine  of  probabilities. 

Plato  was  born  at  Athens,  in  429.  His  name  was 
first  Aristocles.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  attended  the 
school  of  Socrates  during  eight  years,  and,  at  the  death 
of  that  philosopher,  he  travelled  in  Egypt,  Italy,  Sicily, 
and  visited  all  the  philosophical  schools  of  these  court- 


PROSE— PHILOSOPHY.  ]  05 

tries  and  of  his  own ;  he  then  came  back  to  Athens, 
taught  philosophy  with  success,  led  an  edifying  life, 
and,  after  having  written  many  works,  all  in  the  form 
of  dialogues,  except  twelve  letters,  he  died  at  the  age 
of  eighty-one. 

Cicero  and  Quintilian  profess  the  greatest  admira- 
tion for  him ;  he  has  been  called  "  The  Athenian  Bee  ; " 
his  diction  is  elegant,  melodious,  and  sweet;  his  style 


has  been  censured  by  several  modem  writers,  but  with- 
out reason.  "We  cannot  say  as  much  for  some  of  his 
philosophical  opinions,  but  this  question  belongs  to  the 
history  of  philosophy. 

His  works  which  have  come  down  to  us  complete 
may  be  divided  into  three  classes.  The  first  of  these 
is  devoted  to  the  exposition  and  defence  of  the  doctrine 
and  life  of  his  friend  and  master,  Socrates ;  they  are : 
"Phaedrus,"  "Lysis,"  "Protagoras,"  " Parmenides," 
"  Apology,"  "  Crito,"  "  Gorgias,"  and  "  Euthyphron." 


106  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

The  second  one  contains  the  works  written  when  his 
logical  and  dialectic  philosophy  was  fully  matured ; 
they  are:  "  Thesetetus,"  "Meno,"  "  Euthydemus," 
"Cratylus,"  "  Sophistes,"  "  Politicus,"  "  Philebus," 
"Symposium,"  and  "Phaedon."  The  third  one  is  a 
mixture,  where  the  political  element  is  predominant ; 
these  are:  "Critias,"  "Timams,"  "The  Kepublic," 
and  "  The  Laws."  Xenocrates,  a  disciple  of  Plato, 
has  left  no  writing. 

5.  THE  PERIPATETIC  SCHOOL.  —  This  is  the  school 
of  Aristotle. 

Aristotle  was  born  at  Stagira,  a  town  in  Chalcidice, 
in  Macedonia,  in  384:.  At  a  very  early  age  he  at- 
tended the  school  of  Plato,  and  remained  his  disciple 
for  twenty  years.  Then  he  opened  a  school  of  his  own. 
Aristotle  studied  constantly,  and  was  very  sober  in  his 
life.  He  became  the  instructor  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
and,  after  having  composed  very  extensive  works  upon 
a  great  variety  of  subjects,  he  died  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
three.  Cicero  calls  him  a  man  of  eloquence,  and  praises 
him  for  his  universal  science,  readiness,  and  acuteness 
of  invention  and  fecundity  of  thought.  Plato  called 
him  the  philosopher  of  truth.  Having  written  almost 
exclusively  logical,  metaphysical,  and  physical  works, 
his  style  is  adapted  to  that  kind  of  composition.  It  is 
as  clear  as  possible  for  such  matters.  The  authority 
of  Aristotle  has  been  always  very  great,  even  up  to  our 
own  time,  although  the  axiom  Magister  dixit  had  died 
away.  We  have  almost  all  the  works  of  Aristotle. 
They  may  be  divided : 

1.  Into  the  logic  department.  The  extant  logical 
writings  of  that  philosopher  are  comprehended  as  a 


PROSE— PHILOSOPHY.  107 

whole  under  the  title  "Organon"  ('Opyavov}.  This 
work  is  composed  of  six  separate  treatises :  1.  Kar^- 
yopla,  "  The  Categories ; "  2.  Ilepl  'Ep^veias,  "  Of  In- 
terpretation ;•"  3.  and  4.  'AvaXvriKa  frporepa  ical  va-- 
repa,  "  The  First  and  Second  Analytics ; "  5.  ToTrt/ca, 
"  The  Topics,"  and  6.  Ilepl  a-ofaa-rifcwv  eXey^wy,  "  Of 
Sophisms." 

2.  In  metaphysics,  we  have  the  book  which  bears 
that  name,  divided  into  fourteen  parts  (T^  /*era  TO, 
<j>v<nKa). 

3.  In  physics.     The  work  also  bears  the  name  of 
"  Physics,"  divided  into  ten  books  :  1.  The  cosmology 
or  general  principles  of  natural  science;  2.  Concern- 
ing the  heavens  (irepl  ovpdvov) ;  3.  On  production  and 
destruction  ;  4.  On  meteorology  ;  5.  On  the  universe  ; 
6.  The  history   of  animals   (vrepl    £e6<oz/    iarropla)',   7. 
On  the  parts  of  animals  ("jrepl  £&>o>y  /jiopuov) ;  8.  The 
generation  of  animals  ;  9.  The  progression  of  animals  ; 
10.  On  the  soul. 

4.  In  the  ethic  department,  we  have  the  "  Nicho- 
machean  Ethics,"  "  TheEudemean  Ethics,"  and  "  The 
Great  Ethics,"  in  which  are  found  his  treatises  on  eco- 
nomics and  politics. 

5.  In  the  literary  department,  we  have  his  books 
on  the  arts  of  rhetoric  and  poetry. 

We  might  add  to  these  schools  the  STOIC  SCHOOL, 
established  by  Zeno ;  the  SKEPTICAL,  or  PYKEHONIC 
SCHOOL,  founded  by  Pyrrho,  a  native  of  ^Elis,  in  the 
Peloponnesus,  whose  disciple  Timon  was  a  celebrated 
poet ;  and  the  EPICUREAN  SCHOOL,  established  by  Epi- 
curus, a  native  of  Samos,  where  he  was  born,  in  342. 

Those  schools  constitute  the  main  divisions  of  the 


108  GREEK  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

history  of  philosophy  among  the  ancients.  But  the 
study  of  all  their  systems  belongs  to  philosophy.  We 
have  spoken  more  at  length  about  Plato  and  Aristotle, 
because  by  the  variety,  the  extensiveness,  and  the 
beauty  of  their  writings,  they  had  to  be  mentioned  and 
appreciated  in  a  literary  point  of  view. 

With  Aristotle  the  era  of  Greek  classical  literature 
may  be  considered  as  having  arrived  at  its  close ;  the 
independence  of  Greece  had  perished,  and  with  it  what- 
ever made  the  brilliant  genius  which  characterizes  clas- 
sical antiquity. 

Several  writers  have  distinguished  themselves  after 
the  era  in  question  by  the  elegance  of  their  works,  and 
some  of  them  are  translated  in  the  regular  course.  We 
shall  speak  of  them  in  an  Appendix,  which  may  be 
found  at  the  end  of  this  volume. 


PART    II. 
ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 


PRELIMINARIES. 

THE  Latin  language  has  not  the  plastic  property 
which  the  Greek  possesses ;  it  is  a  harder  material," 
nor  did  it  show  the  vitality  of  the  Greek.  The  Greek 
language  outlived  the  Greek  nationality ;  but  it  flour- 
ished only  in  Greece  itself,  and  refused  to  take  root 
elsewhere.  Whenever,  in  any  part  of  the  world,  a 
Greek  settlement  decayed,  and  the  population  be- 
came extinct — although  Greek  art,  science,  literature, 
and  philosophy,  had  found  there  a  temporary  home — 
the  language  perished  also. 

The  Latin  language,  on  the  contrary,  was  propa- 
gated like  the  dominion  of  Rome.  It  is  incorrect  to 
call  the  Greek  a  dead  language,  while  the  Latin  is 
really  dead ;  it  flourished  with  Rome,  and  fell  with  it. 
The  Latin  has  shown  itself  a  language  easy  to  be  al- 
tered, and  even  so  much  changed  that  the  old  Roman, 
placed  in  contact  with  classical  Latin,  is  almost  en- 
tirely unintelligible. 

The  old  Roman  language  was  a  compound  of  Oscan 
and  Pelasgian,  the  languages  of  the  two  peoples  who 


110  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

first  occupied  Italy.  The  first  is  of  German  origin ; 
the  Oscans  came  from  Lithuania.  The  second  is  of 
Asiatic  origin,  as  we  know.  The  Sabellians  and  Um- 
brians,  who  afterward  invaded  Latium,  were  branches 
of  the  first  family,  while  the  Etruscans  were  Pelasgians. 
All  the  words  in  Latin  which  resemble  the  Greek  are 
Pelasgian,  the  others  are  Oscan. 

A  few  relics  exist  of  the  old  Oscan  language,  and 
these  allow  us  to  trace  out  the  formation  of  the  Latin. 
The  oldest  monuments  are :  1.  The  Eugubine  Tables, 
written  400  years  before  the  foundation  of  Rome. 
They  were  discovered  in  1M4,  at  the  foot  of  the  Ap- 
ennines, near  Eugubio.  The  letters  B,  G,  D,  and  R, 
are  not  used,  but  replaced  by  F,  K,  T,  and  S.  2.  The 
Bantine  Table,  discovered  in  1793 ;  it  consists  of  a 
brass  plate  covered  with  inscriptions,  and,  as  the  word 
Bansas  occurs  in  the  twenty-third  line,  it  has  been  sup- 
posed to  refer  to  the  town  of  Bantia,  which  was  situ- 
ated not  far  from  the  spot  where  the  tablet  was  found, 
and  it  is  therefore  called  the  Bantine  Table.  The  af- 
finity may  be  traced  out  between  most  of  the  words 
and  their  corresponding  Latin. 

In  regard  to  the  Pelasgian  language:  A  record 
written  in  that  tongue  was  found  near  Perugia,  in 
1822,  and  it  contains  one  hundred  and  thirty  words. 
The  relation  between  the  Latin  and  Greek  may  be 
found  easily,  and  also  some  Latin  words  which  belong 
entirely  to  the  Pelasgian  tongue.  Many  other  discov- 
eries were  made  in  Etruria ;  some  of  them  refer  to  the 
kings  of  Rome. 

Examples  of  the  old  Latin  are  numerous.  The 
most  interesting  of  these  are  :  1.  "  The  Sacred  Chants," 


PRELIMINARIES.  Ill 

discovered  in  1778,  and  containing  the  very  words 
sung  by  the  priests  in  the  early  times  of  Rome.  The 
chant  was  that  of  the  Fratres  Arvales,  a  college  of 
priests  established  by  Komulus  himself.  The  symbolic 
ensign  of  their  office  was  a  chaplet  of  ears  of  corn,  and 
their  function  was  to  offer  prayers,  in  solemn  dances 
and  processions,  at  the  opening  of  spring. 

2.  "  The   Salian  Hymn,"  of  which  the  following 
fragments,  preserved  by  Varro,  are   all  that  remain, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  isolated  words  : 

"  Cozolodoizesa,  omina  vero  ad  patola  coemisse, 
Jans  casiones,  duonus  ceruses  dunzianus  vevet." 

This  has  been  corrected,  arranged  in  the  Saturnian 
metre,  and  translated  into  Latin,  as  follows  : 

"Choroi-aulodos  eso,  omina  enim  vero 
Ad  patula  ose  misse  Jani  cariones. 
Duonus  Cerus  eset,  dunque  Janus  vevet." 

"  Choroio-anlodus  ero,  omina  enim  vero  ad  patulas  aures  mise- 
runt  Jani  curiones.  Bonus  Cerus  erit  donee  Janus  vivet." 

[I  will  be  a  flute-player  in  the  chorus,  for  the  priests  of  Janus 
have  sent  omens  to  open  ears.  Oerus  (the  Creator)  will  be  pro- 
pitious, so  long  as  Janus  shall  live.] 

3.  "  The  Leges  Regise  "  are  generally  considered  as 
furnishing  the  next  examples,  in  point  of  antiquity,  of 
the  old  Latin  language ;  but,  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that,  although  they  were  assumed  by  the  metrical  tra- 
ditions to  belong  to  the  period  of  the  kings,  they  belong 
to  a  later  historical  period  than  the  laws  of  the  Twelve 
Tables.     Some  fragments  of  laws,  attributed  to  Numa 
and  Servius  Tullius,  are  preserved  by  Festus  in  a  re- 
stored and  corrected  form,  and  therefore  it  is  to  be 


112  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

feared  that  they  have  been  modernized  in  accordance 
with  the  orthographical  rules  of  a  later  age. 

4.  Some  fragments  have  been  preserved  by  Cicero, 
Aulus  Gellius,  Ulpian,  and  others,  of  the  Latin  of  the 
Twelve  Tables.     These  laws  were  graven  on  tablets 
of  brass,  and  publicly  set  up  in  the  Comitium,  and 
were  first  made  public  in  449  B.  c. 

5.  The  Tiburtine  inscription,  which  was  found  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  at  Tivoli,  comes  next.     It  was 
in  the  possession  of  the  Barberini  family,  but  it  was 
afterward  lost,  and  has  never  been  recovered.   It  was  a 
"  Senatus  Consult.,"  written  during  the  second  Samnite 
War.    The  Latin  in  which  it  is  written  may  be  consid- 
ered almost  classical,  the  variations  from  that  of  a  later 
age  being  principally  orthographical.     For  example : 

Tiburtes  is  written  Teiburtes. 

Castoris  "  Kastorus. 

Advertit  "  Advortit. 

Dixistis  *'  Deixsistis. 

Publicae  "  Poplicae. 

Utile  "  Oitile. 

Inducimus  "  Indoucimus. 

Ay  or  abj  before  v,        u  Af. 

6.  Several  epitaphs  exist  which  were  written  dur- 
ing the  Carthaginian  War,  and  we  may  see  by  degrees 
the   formation  of  the  classical  Latin.     The  following 
differences  only  are  found  : 

In  modern  Latin.  In  ancient  Latin. 

E  was  represented  by  i,  sometimes  u  /  condumnari. 

T  .  (  optume,  nominus, 

/  by  u,  e^.  eto:  < 

J  '  I  preivatus,  dedet. 


PRELIMINARIES.  113 

In  modern  Latin.  In  ancient  Latin. 

U  was  represented  by  oi,  m,o;\  f  oiu8>  .douco> 

'  1  houc,  ploirume. 

jE  by  ai  j  aidiles. 

CE  by  oi  /  proilium,  for  proelium. 

The  vowels  were  at  times  doubled,  as  leegi,  luuci,  haace. 

We  may  divide  this  part  into  three  books.  The  first 
era  gives  the  rise  and  progress  of  Latin  literature.  The 
first  five  centuries  of  the  Eepublic  belong  to  that  pe- 
riod ;  but,  properly  speaking,  Eome  had  no  literature 
until  the  conclusion  of  the  first  Punic  War. 

The  second  era  ends  with  the  death  of  Augustus. 
It  comprehends  the  age  of  which  Cicero  is  the  repre- 
sentative, and  is  commonly  called  the  "golden  age  of 
Latin  poetry." 

The  third  era  terminates  with  the  death  of  Ha- 
drian. Many  excellences  distinguished  that  era ;  but, 
evidently,  its  decline  had  commenced.  As  the  age  of 
Augustus  was  distinguished  by  the  epithet  "golden," 
so  the  succeeding  period  was  designated  as  the  "  sil- 


BOOK   I. 

THE    FIRST   ERA. 


CHAPTEE   I. 

FIRST     ESSAYS     IN    PEOSE    AND    POETRY    BEFORE    LIVIUS 
ANDRONICU8. 

CICERO  says  that  in  ancient  times  bards  were  accus- 
tomed to  sing  at  the  banquets.  It  has  been  with  the 
Komans  as  with  all  other  people :  they  had  oral  poet- 
ical compositions  before  they  possessed  any  written 
literature.  The  oldest  measure  used  by  the  Latin  poets 
was  the  Saturnian.  According  to  Hermann  there  is  no 
doubt  that  it  was  derived  from  the  Etruscans,  and  that, 
long  before  the  fountains  of  Greek  literature  were 
opened,  the  strains  of  the  Italian  bards  flowed  in  this 
metre,  until  Ennius  introduced  the  heroic  hexameter. 
The  grammarian  Dioinedes  attributed  the  invention 
of  it  to  Nsevius,  and  seems  to  imply  that  the  Koman 
poet  derived  the  idea  from  the  Greeks.  Several  other 
writers  pretend  also  that  the  Saturnian  verse  is  of 
Greek  origin.  It  is  true  that  the  Saturnian  is  found 
among  the  verses  of  Archilochus,  but  many  circum- 
stances induce  us  to  think,  as  more  probable,  that  the 
use  of  it  by  the  Greek  poet  is  an  accidental  coincidence, 


FIRST  ESSAYS  IN   PROSE  AND  POETRY.  H5 

and  that  the  old  Roman  bards  did  not  copy  it  from 
him.  The  Saturnian  verse  consists  of  two  parts,  each 
containing  three  feet,  which  fall  upon  the  ear  with  the 
same  effect  as  Greek  trochees.  The  whole  is  preceded 
by  a  syllable  in  thesis,  technically  called  an  anacrusis. 
For  example : 

Sam  |  mas  o  |  pes  qui  |  regain  |  r6gi  |  as  re  |  fr6git. 

The  metre  in  its  original  form  was  perfectly  indepen- 
dent of  the  rules  of  Greek  prosody ;  its  only  essential 
requisite  was  the  beat,  or  ictus,  on  the  alternate  sylla- 
ble or  its  representative.  The  only  law  to  regulate  the 
stress  was  that  of  the  common  popular  pronunciation ; 
in  fact,  stress  occupied  the  place  of  quantity.  Two  or 
three  syllables,  which,  according  to  the  rules  of  pros- 
ody, would  be  long  by  position,  might  be  slurred  over 
or  pronounced  rapidly  in  the  time  of  one,  as  in  the 
following  line : 

Amnem  TToj&gena  Cannam  |  fugene  t6  alienigenae. 

Thus  it  is  clear  that  the  principles  which  regulated  it 
were  those  of  modern  versification,  without  the  niceties 
and  delicacies  of  Greek  quantity. 

The  subjects  of  those  songs  were  probably  myth- 
ological tales.  Most  of  the  poets  came  from  Etruria. 
The  Romans,  being  men  of  action,  could  not  cultivate 
literature,  and  so,  with  the  Romans,  literature  was  not 
of  spontaneous  growth ;  it  was  the  result  of  external 
influence.  It  is  impossible  to  fix  the  period  at  which 
they  first  became  subject  to  this  influence;  but  it  is 
clear  that  in  every  thing  mental  and  spiritual  their 
neighbors,  the  Etruscans,  were  their  teachers.  The, 
influence  exercised  by  this  remarkable  people  was  not 


116  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

only  religious  but  moral ;  its  primary  object  was  dis- 
cipline, its  secondary  one  refinement.  To  this  pure 
culture  the  old  Roman  character  owed  its  vigor,  its 
honesty,  and  its  incorruptible  sternness. 

For  centuries  the  Roman  mind  was  imbued  with 
Etruscan  literature.  The  first  written  literature  of 
Rome  was  not  poetry,  but  history  written  in  prose. 
According  to  Livy,  the  first  records  were  written  on 
rolls  of  cloth ;  they  were  the  **  Libri  Lentei "  (treaties 
between  Rome  and  Carthage),  "  The  Annales  Maximi," 
"The  Commentarii  Consulares,"  and  "The  Tabulaj 
Censoriae.'''  All  these  records,  however,  which  were 
anterior  to  the  capture  of  Rome  by  the  Gauls,  perished 
in  the  conflagration  of  the  city. 

Each  patrician  house  also  had  its  private  family 
history,  and  the  laudatory  orations,  said  to  have  been 
recited  at  the  funerals  of  illustrious  members,  were 
carefully  preserved,  as  adorning  and  illustrating  their 
nobility ;  but  this  heraldic  literature  obscured  instead 
of  throwing  a  light  upon  history,  for  it  was  filled  with 
false  triumphs,  imaginary  consulships,  and  forged  gene- 
alogies. 

The  first  attempt  at  written  poetry  were  the  "  Fes- 
cennine  Songs,"  composed  for  theatrical  exhibitions. 
These  songs,  which  were  the  elements  of  the  primitive 
Latin  comedy,  show  that  the  Romans  possessed  a  nat- 
ural aptitude  for  satire.  Like  the  comedies  of  Aris- 
tophanes, which  served  as  models,  they  were  often  very 
obscene ;  and  no  wonder,  when  we  consider  the  morals 
of  the  time.  The  word  "  fescennine  "  comes  probably 
from  "  fascinum,"  which  is  the  same  word  as  the 
Greek  «  phallos." 


DRAMATIC   STYLE   IN   THE   FIRST   ERA.  H7 

The  first  theatrical  exhibitions  of  the  Latins,  like 
those  of  the  Greeks,  had  their  origin,  not  in  towns,  but 
among  the  rural  population.  At  first  they  were  inno- 
cent and  gay,  and  their  mirth  overflowed  in  boisterous 
but  good-humored  repartee ;  but  liberty  at  length  de- 
generated into  license,  and  gave  birth  to  malicious  and 
libellous  attacks  on  persons  of  irreproachable  character. 
As  the  licentiousness  of  Greek  comedy  provoked  the 
interference  of  the  legislature,  so  the  laws  of  the  Twelve 
Tables  forbade  the  personalities  of  the  "  Fescennine 
Songs."  "The  Ludi  Oscii"— which  title  shows  their 
original  element — gave  to  the  comedy  a  character  less 
lewd  and  satirical,  but  made  it  more  farcical,  rougher, 
and  clownish.  Such  was  the  state  of  Roman  literature 
until  the  middle  of  the  third  century  before  Christ ; 
from  that  time  the  drama  took  a  more  distinguished 
character. 


CHAPTEE  II. 

DRAMATIC   STYLE   IN   THE   FIRST  EEA. 

THE  dramas  written  at  that  period  were  an  imita- 
tion of  the  Greek,  even  as  regards  style ;  but  it  would 
have  been  impossible  at  the  time  of  Livius  to  make  the 
lyrical  portions  of  the  drama  occupy  such  a  large  por- 
tion in  the  Latin  drama  as  it  did  in  the  Greek. 

The  following  writers  were  the  authors,  not  only  of 
tragedies,  but  also  of  comedies.  We  have  from  them, 
but  fragments.  From  the  first  one  even  we  have  only 
the  titles  of  his  tragedies,  and  a  few  verses.  They  must 


118  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

be  praised,  especially  for  the  vast  improvement  which 
the  Latin  tongue  acquired  by  them  : 

Livius  Andronicus,  born  in  240,  was  a  Greek  from 
the  colony  of  Tarentum,  and,  as  it  was  the  custom  at 
that  time,  he  became  the  tutor  of  the  son  of  some  noble 
Koman,  who  gave  him  his  liberty.  Livius  translated 
"  The  Odyssey ; "  but,  feeling  that  he  had  a  sort  of  vo- 
cation for  writing  dramas,  he  turned  his  attention  to 
that  pursuit,  and  became  very  popular.  He  elevated 
the  drama  above  the  regions  of  ribaldry  and  folly ;  still 
the  Romans  did  not  entirely  abandon  their  ancient  rep- 
resentations, where  buffoonery  was  prevalent.  As  we 
have  said,  we  have  the  titles,  and  a  few  of  the  verses, 
only,  of  Livius's  tragedies.  They  were  all  Greek  sub- 
jects, and  almost  all  translations.  According  to  Cicero, 
the  style  was  very  crude ;  still  Livius  was  much  read 
at  Rome,  even  during  the  Augustan  period,  and  Horace 
complained  bitterly  of  this.  Notwithstanding  adverse 
criticisms,  Livius  deserves  praises  for  the  improvement 
introduced  in  the  theatrical  exhibitions,  and  in  the 
Latin  language. 

The  representations  of  Livius  were  made  sometimes 
with  great  display.  No  expense  was  spared  in  putting 
them  upon  the  stage ;  and  so,  according  to  what  Cicero 
says  in  a  letter  to  M.  Marius,  when  they  exhibited 
"  The  Trojan  Horse "  and  u  Clytemnestra,"  a  proces- 
sion of  six  hundred  mules,  probably  richly  caparisoned, 
was  introduced  in  the  latter,  and  cavalry  and  infan- 
try, clad  in  various  armor,  mingled  in  mimic  combat 
on  the  scene,  while  three  thousand  bucklers,  the  spoils 
of  foreign  nations,  were  exhibited  in  the  former. 

Cneius  NseviuB,  born  in  235,  was  probably  a  Roman 


DRAMATIC  STYLE  IN  THE  FIRST  ERA.  H9 

by  birth,  but  he  was  surely  a  Roman  by  character  and 
affection.  He  wrote  an  epic  poem  on  the  first  Punic 
War ;  but,  owing  to  the  popularity  of  dramatic  liter- 
ature, his  earliest  productions  were  tragedies  and  com- 
edies, and  the  titles  which  we  have,  show  that  they  were 
mere  Greek  legends  or  stories.  Still  JSTsevius  was  not 
a  simple  imitator,  for  he  had  a  style  of  his  own,  and 
was  original.  He  wrote  several  satires,  and  offended 
personages  of  high  rank,  and,  on  that  account,  he  was 
exiled  to  Utica,  where  he  died.  The  following  epitaph 
was  written  by  himself: 

"Mortales  immortales  flere  si  foret  fas, 
Flerent  Divinao  Camenae  Naeviam  poetam. 
Itaque  postquam  est  Orcino  traditus  thesauro 
Obliti  sunt  Eomani  loquier  Latina  lingua." 

Naevius  has  been  praised  by  all  the  writers  of  the 
Augustan  era.  Besides  his  tragedies,  he  wrote  com- 
edies and  satires,  but  the  few  fragments  which  remain 
do  not  allow  us  to  judge  him.  We  must  abide  by  the 
opinion  of  the  ancients.  Ennius  and  Yirgil  discovered 
in  him  such  a  freshness  and  power  that  they  unscru- 
pulously copied  and  imitated  him,  and  transferred  his 
thoughts  to  their  own  poems,  as  they  did  those  of  Ho- 
mer. We  know  by  Horace  that,  in  his  time,  Nsevius's 
poems  were  universally  read,  and  were  in  the  hands 
and  hearts  of  everybody.  Cicero  praises  him,  although 
he  has  no  taste  for  the  old  national  literature.  Yirgil 
has  imitated  his  poem  on  the  Punic  War,  in  the  fourth 
book  of  his  "  ^Eneid,"  when  he  relates  the  adventures 
of  ^Eneas  and  Dido. 

Before  Nsevius,  the  Saturnian  was  the  only  Italian 
measure  which  was  extant.  He,  as  a  master  of  taste, 


120  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

introduced  the  iambic  and  trochaic  metres ;  but  he  ex- 
cluded absolutely  the  heroic  hexameter,  and  it  was  long 
before  the  Romans  could  arrive  at  perfection  in  this 
metre.  The  fragments  of  Nsevius  extant  are  not  nu- 
merous, and  we  will  give  only  the  following  lines  de- 
scribing the  panic  of  the  Carthaginians.  The  picture 
is  well  drawn : 

"  Sic  Poinei  contremiscunt  artibus  tmiversim ; 
Magnei  metus  tumultus  pectora  possidet, 
Coesura  funera  agitant,  exsequias  ititant, 
Temulentiamque  tollunt  festam." 

Ennius  was  born  in  Calabria  in  239,  and  was  the 
first  literary  man  who,  on  that  account,  was  honored 
with  the  title  of  Roman  citizen.  Enuius  prepared  the 
new  era  of  literature,  and  he  is  admired  especially  for 
his  picturesqueness  and  "  holiness  " — this  word  means 
his  antiquity.  He  was  a  model  for  his  successors,  and 
Cicero  always  calls  him  "  Our  Ennius,"  while  Horace, 
speaking  of  him,  says,  "  Father  Ennius."  He  was  an 
epic,  dramatic,  and  comic  writer.  It  seems  that  En- 
nius was  distinguished  in  arms  as  well  as  in  letters. 
He  was  protected  by  the  elder  Scipio  Africanus,  whom 
he  accompanied  in  most  of  his  campaigns.  Horace 
accuses  him  of  having  been  intemperate  in  drinking, 
and  this  gave  him  the  morbus  articularis  (gout),  of 
which  he  died,  at  the  age  of  seventy.  Honors,  due  to 
his  character  and  talents,  were  paid  to  him  after  his 
death.  The  following  epitaph,  written  by  himself, 
shows  his  overweening  conceit,  and  the  high  estima- 
tion of  his  own  talents,  which  formed  a  principal  defect 
in  his  character : 


DRAMATIC  STYLE  IN  THE  FIRST  ERA.  121 

"Adspicete,  O  cives,  senis  Enni  imagini'  formam. 
Hie  vostrum  panxit  maxima  facta  patrum. 
Nemo  me  lacrymis  decoret,  nee  funera  fletu 
Faxit.— cur?    Volito  viva1  per  ora  virftm." 

To  judge  by  the  fragments  of  his  works,  Ennius 
greatly  surpassed  his  predecessors,  not  only  in  poetical 
genius,  but  in  the  art  of  versification.  By  his  time,  in- 
deed, the  best  models  of  Greek  composition  had  begun 
to  be  studied  at  Some.  Ennius  particularly  professed 
to  have  imitated  Homer ;  but  it  is,  however,  the  Greek 
tragic  writers  whom  he  has  chiefly  imitated,  and  in- 
deed it  appears,  from  the  fragments  that  remain,  that 
all  his  plays  were  rather  translations  from  the  dramas 
of  Sophocles  and  Euripides,  on  the  same  subjects  which 
he  had  chosen,  than  original  tragedies. 

Ennius  composed  satires,  but  the  fragments  of  these 
are  too  short  and  broken  to  allow  us  even  to  divine 
their  subject.  The  great  work,  however,  of  Ennius, 
and  of  which  we  have  still  considerable  remains,  was 
his  "  Annals,  or  Metrical  Chronicles,"  devoted  to  the 
celebration  of  Roman  exploits,  from  the  earliest  period 
to  the  conclusion  of  the  Istrian  War.  These  "  Annals  " 
were  partly  founded  on  those  ancient  traditions  and 
old  heroic  ballads  mentioned  by  Cicero  and  Cato  as 
having  been  sung  at  feasts  by  the  guests.  The  work 
has  been  divided  into  eighteen  books,  by  some  gram- 
marian, long  after  Ennius's  death.  In  his  fourteenth 
book,  Ennius  speaks  of  the  war  prosecuted  by  the  con- 
sul Scipio  against  Antiochus,  who  was  excited  to  wage 
war  against  the  Romans  by  the  general  Hannibal. 
Scipio  arrives  at  Ilium,  and  we  find  in  Ennius  the  fol- 
lowing apostrophe : 


122  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

"O  patria!  O  divum  domus  Ilium,  et  incluta  bello 
Pergamal"  .... 

The  following  lines,  containing  the  enthusiastic  excla- 
mation of  the  soldiers,  are  equally  beautiful : 

"  Quai  neque  Dardaneeis  campeis  potuere  perire, 
Nee  quom  capta  capei,  nee  quom  combust  a  cremari." 

The  poem  of  Ennius,  called  "  Phagetica,"  is  curi- 
ous, as  giving  us  much  information  about  the  luxury 
of  the  Romans  in  this  early  age.  Unfortunately,  we 
know  it  only  from  the  "  Apologia  "  of  Apuleius.  It 
was  a  didactic  poem  on  edibles,  particularly  fish. 

The  most  curious  point  connected  with  the  literary 
history  of  Ennius  is  his  prose  translation  of  the  cele- 
brated work  of  Euhemerus,  called  'lepa  'Avarypa<f>TJ. 
The  translation,  as  well  as  the  original  work,  is  lost. 
Some  fragments,  however,  have  been  saved  by  St.  Au- 
gustine and  Lactantius.  It  is  clear  from  them  that 
there  prevailed  a  considerable  spirit  of  free-thinking 
among  the  Romans  in  the  days  of  Ennins.  The  frag- 
ments of  Ennius  were  published,  in  1564,  in  "a  book 
called  "  Fragmenta  Yeterum  Poetarum  Latinorum." 


CHAPTER  III. 

COMEDY. 


THE  Roman  critics  divided  comedy  into  Comoedia 
Palliata,  in  which  the  characters  and  costumes  were 
all  Greek,  and  Comoedia  Togata,  and  also  Prastextata, 
in  which  they  were  Roman.  The  Comcedia  Togiita 


COMEDY.  123 

was  again  divided  into  Trabeata,  or  genteel  comedy, 
and  Tabernaria,  or  low  comedy. 

Comedy,  even  at  the  time  of  Plautus,  was  as  low 
as  the  Greek,  for  it  copied  the  Greek  models,  and  gave 
also  the  picture  of  real  life  at  home.  Our  modern 
comic  writers  have  imitated  this  form,  corrected  and 
freed  from  its  lewdness  and  low  standard.  In  almost 
every  one  of  the  pieces  there  is  a  sameness  in  the 
dramatis  personce ;  the  principal  characters  are  a  mo- 
rose and  parsimonious,  or  a  gentle  and  easy,  father,  who 
is  sometimes  also  the  henpecked  husband  of  a  rich  wife ; 
an  affectionate  and  domineering  wife;  a  young  man, 
who  is  frank  and  good-natured,  but  profligate ;  a  grasp- 
ing or  benevolent  Hetsera,  a  roguish  servant,  a  fawn- 
ing favorite,  a  hectoring  coward,  an  unscrupulous  pro- 
curess, and  a  cold,  calculating,  slave-dealer. 

The  names  assigned  to  the  characters  of  the  Eoman 
comedy  have  always  an  appropriate  meaning.  Young 
men,  for  instance,  are  Pamphilus  (dear  to  all),  Charinus 
(gracious),  Phcedria  (joyous) ;  old  men  are  Simo  (flat- 
nosed),  such  a  physiognomy  showing  generally  a  cross- 
grained  disposition ;  Chremes  forms  a  word  signifying 
troubled  with  phlegm.  Slaves  generally  bear  the  names 
of  their  native  country,  thus :  Syrus,  from  Phrygia ; 
Danus,  a  Dacian ;  Byrrhia,  a  native  of  Pyrrha  in  Caria ; 
Dorias,  a  Dorian  girl ;  a  vain-glorious  soldier  is  Thraso, 
from  0pdo-o<?,  boldness ;  a  parasite,  Gnatho,  from  <yvddo$, 
the  jaw;  a  nurse,  Sophrona,  discreet;  a  freedman,  So- 
sia,  as  having  been  spared  in  war ;  a  young  girl,  Gly- 
cerium,  from  7X1^9,  sweet ;  a  judge  is  Crito ;  a  cour- 
tesan. Chrysis,  from  xpva-os,  gold.  These  examples  will 
be  sufficient  to  understand  the  practice  adopted  by  the 


124  EOMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

comic  writers.  It  is  very  difficult  to  understand  the 
relation  which  music  bore  to  the  exhibition  of  Roman 
comedy.  It  is  clear  that  there  was  always  a  musical 
accompaniment,  and  that  the  instruments  used  were 
flutes ;  the  lyre  was  only  used  in  tragedy, "because  in 
comedy  there  was  no  chorus,  or  lyric  portion.  The 
flutes  were  at  first  small  and  simple ;  but,  in  the  time 
of  Horace,  they  were  much  larger  and  more  powerful, 
as  well  as  constructed  with  more  numerous  stops,  and 
greater  compass.  It  is  sometimes  difficult  to  translate 
the  comic  writers.  This  is  owing,  first,  to  the  license 
which  they  were  accustomed  to  use  freely,  and  by 
which  we  may  see  that  the  language  was  not  spoken 
as  it  was  written.  Besides  this,  many  letters  were 
dropped  or  slurred,  hence  domnus  for  dominus,  audin 
for  audisne,  vluptas  for  voluptas,  erfvero  for  enirn  vero, 
circventus  for  circumventus.  Sometimes  they  added 
d  to  me,  te,  and  se,  when  followed  by  a  vowel ;  reliquit 
med  homo  for  me  homo,  and  also  med  erg  a  for  me  erg  a. 
The  pronunciation  of  English  may  give  an  idea  of  what 
the  pronunciation  of  Latin  was  among  the  comic  poets. 

The  above  observations  enable  us  to  reduce  all  the 
metres  of  Terence,  and  nearly  all  of  Plautus,  to  iambic 
and  trochaic,  especially  to  iambic  senarii  and  trochaic 
tetrameters.  Some  grammarian  assigns  the  order  of 
merit  to  the  authors  of  Roman  comedy  first  to  Statins, 
then  to  Plautus.  "We  think  that  we  are  not  obliged  to 
accept  this  classification,  and  that  Plautus  comes  before 
Statius  by  antiquity  and  by  merit. 

T.  Maccius  Plautus  was  born  in  Umbria,  in  210, 
in  the  town  of  Sarcini.  He  was  a  contemporary  of 
Ennius,  and  very  young  when  he  removed  to  Rome. 


COMEDY.  125 

His  name  means,  in  the  Umbrian  or  Oscan  language, 
''  flat  feet."  He  turned  his  attention  early  to  the  stage, 
and  made  much  money,  which  he  soon  lost  in  commer- 
cial undertakings.  Then  he  worked  for  his  livelihood, 
and  composed  most  of  his  plays  at  that  time.  The  fol- 
lowing laudatory  epigram,  written  by  Yarro,  is  found 
in  the  "  Noctes  Atticse  "  of  Aulus  Gellius  : 

"  Postquam  est  mortem  aptus  Plautus,  comcedia  luget, 
Scena  est  deserta,  dein  risus  ludu,  jocusque, 
Et  numeri  innumeri  simul  omnes  collacrumarnnt." 

"We  have  twenty  comedies  extant  by  him,  though 
he  composed  many  more.  In  each  plot  there  is  suf- 
ficient action,  movement,  and  spirit ;  but,  if  we  con- 
sider them  in  the  mass,  there  is  too  great  uniformity 
in  his  fables.  They  hinge  for  the  most  part  on  the 
love  of  some  dissolute  youth  for  a  courtesan,  his  em- 
ployment of  a  slave  to  defraud  the  father,  and  the  final 
discovery  that  his  mistress  is  a  free-born  citizen.  The 
Latin  style  of  Plautus  excels  in  briskness  of  dialogue, 
as  well  as  in  purity  of  expression  ;  but  it  has  been  ex- 
tolled too  much  by  some  grammarians,  and  especially 
by  Yarro.  This  writer  says  of  Plautus  what  he  said 
of  Plato,  that,  if  the  Muses  spoke  in  Latin,  they  would 
borrow  the  language  of  Plautus. 

We  may  admit  that  Plautus  wonderfully  improved 
and  refined  the  Latin  language,  from  the  rude  form  in 
which  he  found  it.  The  chief  excellence  of  Plautus  is 
generally  reputed  to  consist  in  the  wit  and  comic  force 
of  his  dialogue ;  and  the  censure  of  Horace,  reproving 
the  ancient  Romans,  who  admired  "Plautinos  sales," 
seems  an  unjust  criticism.  The  fact  is,  that  the  Plau- 
tian  comedy  maintained  its  position  on  the  Koman 


126  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

stage  for  at  least  five  centuries,  and  was  acted  as  late 
as  the  reign  of  Diocletian.  The  wit  of  Plautus  often 
degenerated  into  buffoonery,  but  he  was  writing  for 
the  theatre,  and  not  for  the  reader. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  his  extant  comedies : 

1.  "  Amphitryo ; "  2,  3,  4.  "Asinaria,"  "  Casina,"  and 
"Mercator;"  5.  '"The  Aulularia;"  6.  "The  Bacchi- 
des ; "  7.  "  The  Captivi ; "  8.  "  The  Curculio ; "  9.  "  The 
Cistellaria;"  10.  "  The  Epidicus ; "  11.  "TheMostel- 
laria;"  12.  "The  Mensechmi;"  13.  "The  Miles  Glo- 
riosus;"  14.  "  The  Pseudolus ; "  15.  "  The  Pcenulus ; " 
16.  "  The  Persa ; "  17.  "  The  Kudens ; "  18.  «  Stichus ; " 
19.  "  The  Trinumus ; "  20.  "  The  Truculentus."     The 

2,  3,  4,  depict  a  state  of  morals  so  revolting  that  it  is 
impossible  to  dwell  upon  them.     These  plays  are  al- 
most as  lewd  as  those  of  Aristophanes,  in  which  that 
writer  falls  into  the  same  defect. 

Moliere  has  imitated  "  Amphitryon  "  in  a  piece  of 
the  same  name,  and  which  is  one  of  the  most  immoral 
among  the  comedies  of  that  French  writer.  His  comedy 
"  The  Miser  "  (L'Avare)  is  an  imitation  of  "  The  Au- 
lularia," but  surely  Moliere  is  superior  to  Plautus  in 
the  picture  of  his  "  Miser."  Shakespeare  has  imitated 
and  surpassed  "  The  MenaBchmi,"  or  "  Comedy  of  Er- 
rors," arising  out  of  the  exact  likeness  between  two 
brothers.  The  plays  which  were  the  favorites  of  Plautus 
were  "  The  Pseudolus  "  and  "  The  Truculentus."  In 
both  cases  the  plot  is  simple,  but  the  action  is  bustling 
and  full  of  intrigue.  "  The  Miles  Gloriosus "  is  one 
of  the  best  pieces  of  Plautus,  and  one  which  has  been 
especially  imitated.  The  prologues  of  Plautus  deserve 
a  special  mention,  and  are  very  skilfully  composed; 


COMEDY.  127 

they  introduce  the  comedy,  and  their  amusing  gayety 
puts  the  audience  in  good-humor,  and  secures  their 
applause. 

Caecilius  Statins. — This  comic  writer,  who  was  born 
in  Milan,  and  died  in  586  from  the  foundation  of  Rome, 
flourished  between  Plautus  and  Terentius.  We  have 
forty-five  titles  of  his  comedies,  but  few  fragments; 
they  were  all  Palliatse.  The  collection  of  the  frag- 
ments, although  a  considerable  one,  is  not  sufficient  to 
test  the  favorable  opinion  entertained  by  the  critics  of 
ancient  times.  Cicero  speaks  of  his  Latin  as  being 
bad ;  Horace,  without  giving  his  opinion  completely, 
says,  however,  that  Statius  was  superior  in  dignity 
(gravitate),  and  Terence  in  skill  (arte). 

P.  Terentius  Afer,  according  to  some  traditions,  was 
born  at  Carthage,  in  192.  He  was  a  slave,  who  taught 
in  the  house  of  Terentius,  hence  his  name ;  his  cogno- 
men Afer  indicates  his  origin  from  Africa.  Terence 
wrote  six  comedies,  and  then  left  Italy  and  went  to 
Greece,  where  he  died,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four  years. 
Most  of  his  plays  are  taken  from  the  Greek  stage,  still 
he  is  somewhat  original.  The  plots  of  Terence  are 
judiciously  laid,  the  incidents  are  selected  with  taste, 
arranged  with  art,  and  painted  with  exquisite  beauty. 
He  has  been  considered,  in  the  delineation  of  charac- 
ters, as  surpassing  all  the  comic  poets  of  Rome.  Ter- 
ence gave  to  the  Roman  tongue  its  highest  perfection, 
in  point  of  elegance  and  art.  He  has  been  called  by 
Caesar,  "Puri  sermonis  amator;"  and  Cicero  says, 
"  Quidquid  come  loquens,  ac  omnia  dulcia  dicens." 
The  narrative  in  his  plots  possesses  a  beautiful  and 
picturesque  simplicity.  ,  In  regard  to  what  we  might 


128  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

call  the  poetical  style  of  Terence,  it  has  beeii  gen- 
erally allowed  that  he  has  used  very  great  license  in 
his  versification.  The  language  of  Plautus  is  more 
rich  and  luxuriant  than  that  of  Terence,  but  is  far 
from  being  so  uniform  or  so  chaste.  The  main  pur- 
pose of  Plautus  was  to  excite  laughter,  and  conse- 
quently we  find  in  him,  as  is  natural,  more  wit,  more 
vivacity  of  action,  and  more  variety  of  incidents  which 
inflame  curiosity ;  but,  in  every  other  respect,  Terence 
is  superior  to  him. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  six  plays  of  Terence : 
1.  "The  Andrian;"  2.  "The  Eunuch;"  3.  "The 
Heautontimorumenos ; "  4.  "  Phonnio ; "  5.  "  Hecyra ; " 
and  6.  "Adelphi." 

It  would  be,  perhaps,  difficult  to  determine  which 
is  the  best  of  these  comedies,  for  all  are  good.  We 
will  here  give  the  plot  of  the  first  piece,  and  this  will 
allow  us  to  judge  all  the  pieces  of  Terence : 

Glycerium,  a  young  Athenian  girl,  is  placed  under 
the  care  of  an  Andrian,  who  educates  her  with  his 
daughter  Chrysis.  On  his  death  Ohrysis  migrates  to 
Athens,  taking  Glycerium  with  her  and  her  sister,  and 
is  driven  by  distress  to  become  a  courtesan.  Pamphi- 
lus,  the  son  of  Simo,  falls  in  love  with  Glycerium,  and 
promises  her  marriage.  Simo  discovers  his  son's  at- 
tachment in  the  following  manner :  Chrysis  dies,  and, 
at  her  funeral,  Glycerium  approaches  too  near  the  fu- 
neral-pile; her  lover  rushes  forward  and  takes  her 
away,  when  the  girl  bursts  into  a  flood  of  tears  and 
throws  herself  into  his  arms.  Simo  had,  meanwhile, 
betrothed  Pamphilus  to  Philumena,  the  daughter  of 
Chremes,  and,  in  order  to  discover  his  son's  real  senti- 


COMEDY.  129 

ments,  he  pretends  that  the  marriage  with  Philumena 
shall  take  place  at  once  ;  Davus,  a  slave,  advises  Pam- 
philus  to  offer  no  opposition.  At  this  crisis,  Glycerium 
is  delivered  of  a  child,  which  Davus  causes  to  be  laid 
at  the  door  of  Simo.  Chremes,  understanding  all,  re- 
fuses to  give  his  daughter.  The  opportune  arrival  of 
Crito,  an  Andrian,  discovers  that  Glycerium  is  Chre- 
mes's  daughter,  who  had  been  intrusted  to  his  brother 
Phania,  now  dead,  when  he  (Chremes)  left  Athens. 
Consequently,  Glycerium  is  married  to  Pamphilus,  and 
Philumena  is  given  to  a  young  lover  (Charinus),  who 
had  hitherto  pressed  his  suit  in  vain.  The  talent  of 
Terence  for  narrative  is  displayed  in  this  piece,  es- 
pecially in  the  scene  near  the  funeral-pile.  Moliere 
has  borrowed  much  from  Terence.  The  remaining 
comic  poets  will  require  but  brief  notice. 

L.  Afranius  wrote  many  comedies  of  the  lowest  class 
— Fabulse  TabernariaB.  He  was  a  man  of  low  tastes 
and  profligate  morals.  "We  have  fragments,  and  many 
titles,  of  his  compositions. 

Cicero  quotes  several  times  the  name  of  Atilius — 
whom  he  calls  Poeta  Durissimus — and  he  gives  one 
line  from  one  of  his  comedies. 

P.  Licinius  Tegnla  left  few  fragments. 

LaviniTis  Luscius,  another  comic  writer,  is  severely 
criticised  by  Terence,  but  we  have  nothing  from  him. 

Q.  Trabea  is  quoted  several  times  by  Cicero,  and  it 
is  all  that  remains  of  his  writings. 

S.  Turpilius  is  the  last  writer,  from  whom  we  have  a 
few  fragments,  and  the  titles  of  some  of  his  plays. 


130  KOMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

CHAPTER  IT. 

SATIRIC   DRAMA — SATIRE. 

TRAGEDY  could  never  prevail  in  Home  until  the 
whole  Roman  population  had  almost  been  changed  by 
the  gradual  accession  of  slaves  and  prisoners,  brought 
there  from  every  place,  but  especially  from  the  East. 
The  Roman  character  could  not  appreciate  tragic  com- 
position, and  the  people  were  not  cultivated  enough 
nor  peaceful  enough.  Besides,  we  have  seen  that  the 
tragedy  was  for  the  Greeks  a  real  religious  perform- 
ance, and  that  it  never  had  that  character  in  Rome. 
The  Romans  could  never  have  seen  in  those  plays  any 
thing  but  a  secular  amusement,  to  which  they  always 
preferred  bloody  games  and  gorgeous  displays  on  the 
stage — any  thing  which  could  satisfy  their  character- 
istic ambition,  and  their  thirst  for  blood.  We  have  in 
this  first  period  only  five  writers  of  tragedies.  We 
have  spoken  already  of  Livius  Andronicus,  Naevius, 
and  Ennius,  whose  poetical  character  was  more  di- 
dactic than  tragic.  The  two  others  are  Pacuvius  and 
Attius.  These  five  writers  copied  Greek  models,  for 
we  have  no  tragedy  extant  of  the  kind — Fabulse  Prse- 
textatae.  Seven  titles  only  may  be  given  for  all  the 
Latin  tragic  writers. 

M.  Pacuvius  was  born  at  Brundisium,  in  220,  and 
was  a  nephew  of  Ennius.  Very  little  is  known  of  his 
life,  but  he  died  at  Tarentum,  at  the  age  of  ninety 
years.  We  have  from  him  the  titles  of  twenty  trage- 
dies, of  which  few  fragments  remain.  We  may  judge 


SATIRIC  DRAMA— SATIRE.  131 

him  by  the  sayings  of  Cicero,  Horace,  and  Quintilian. 
Cicero  says :  "  Omnes  apud  hunc  ornati  elaboratique 
sunt  versus."  Horace  and  Quintilian  praise  especially 
his  learning.  Quintilian,  comparing  him  with  Attius, 
says :  "  Yirium  Attio  plus  tribuitur,  Pacuvium  videri 
doctiorem,  qui  esse  docti  affectant,  volunt ;  "  and  Hor- 
ace, when  speaking  of  the  public  opinion  entertained 
concerning  Attius,  says : 

"  Ambigitur  quoties  uter  utro  sit  prior,  aufert 
Pacuvius  docti  famam  senis,  Attius  alti." 

Among  his  tragedies  the  best  was,  according  to  these 
critics,  "  Iliona,"  whose  first  husband  was  Polydorus. 
From  that  piece  Shakespeare  took  his  play  of  "Ham- 
let." From  no  one  play  of  Pacuvius  are  there  more 
than  fifty  lines  preserved,  and  these  very  much  de- 
tached. It  does  not  appear  that  his  tragedies  had 
much  success  or  popularity  in  his  own  age. 

L.  Attius  was  born  about  170.  According  to  Cicero, 
his  style  was  harsh,  but  he  was  held  in  great  estima- 
tion by  his  countrymen  for  the  force  and  eloquence  of 
his  productions.  We  have  seen  the  opinion  of  Horace 
and  Quintilian  about  him.  Attius  wrote  at  least  fifty 
tragedies ;  none  remain  entire,  but  we  have  many 
fragments. 

The  following  lines  from  "  The  Phenissae "  and 
urPhe  Complaint  of  Philoctete,"  are,  though  brief,  fair 
examples  of  his  language  and  versification  : 

"  Sol,  qui  micantem  candido  curru  atque  equis 
Flammam  citatis  fervido  ardore  explicas, 
Quianam  tarn  adverse  augurio  et  inimico  omine 
Thebis  radiatum  lumen  ostendis  tuum !  " 


.32  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

"  Hen  !  quis  salsis  fluctibus  mandet 
Me  ex  sublimi  vertice  saxi, 
Jamjam  absumor ;  conficit  animam 
Vis  volneris,  ulceris  aestus." 

These  quotations  are  found  in  the  "  Tusciilanes."  The 
titles  of  some  of  the  tragedies  of  Attius  show  that  he 
treated  some  subjects  entirely  Koman — like  "  Brutus," 
"  Decius,"  and  "  Marcellus."  Yarro  has  preserved 
from  him  the  "  Soliloquy  of  Hercules,"  in  his  "  Tra- 
cliinise,"  an  imitation  of  Sophocles,  forty-five  lines.  It 
is  probably  the  best  piece  of  Attius. 

In  the  genus  Satire — which  is  really  a  Roman  in- 
vention, and  the  result  of  their  passion  for  comedy — 
we  have  but  one  writer  before  Horace. 

C.  Lucilius  was  a  Eoman  knight,  born  in  149,  at 
Suena.  In  his  youth  he  was  a  soldier,  and,  during  all 
his  life  he  enjoyed  the  greatest  intimacy  with  the  best 
military  men  of  his  time.  Unfortunately,  his  writings 
are  so  mutilated  that  few  particulars  of  his  life  and 
manners  can  be  gleaned  from  them.  He  wrote  thirty 
books  of  satires,  and  from  the  fragments  which  are  ex- 
tant we  may  judge  the  poet. 

The  time  when  he  lived  was  very  good  for  a  satiric 
writer,  for  it  was  the  time  of  transition  between  the 
austere  way  of  living  of  the  Romans,  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  foreign  luxury  and  exaggerated  refinement. 
The  chief  characteristic  of  Lucilius  was  his  vehement 
and  cutting  satire.  He  is  called  by  Macrobius,  "  Acer 
et  violentus  poe'ta."  His  Latin,  according  to  Horace, 
was  sufficiently  pure,  but  his  versification  was  rugged 
and  prosaic.  Horace  compares  his  poetry  to  a  muddy 
and  troubled  stream ;  but,  from  the  opinion  of  Quin- 


SATIRIC  DRAMA— SATIRE.  133 

tilian,  we  may  judge  that  this  is  exaggerated.  For 
Quintilian,  while  blaming  those  who  considered  Lu- 
cilius  as  the  greatest  of  poets,  does  not  coincide  with 
the  opinion  of  Horace  when  he  says :  "  Ego  quantum 
ab  illis,  tantum  ab  Horatio  dissentio,  qui  Lucilium 
fluere  lutulentum,  et  esse  aliquid  quod  tollere  possis, 
putat." 

Lucilius,  it  is  true,  has  occasionally  used  too  much 
license,  as,  when  he  barbarously  separated  the  sylla- 
bles of  a  work,  like  in  the  following  line : 
"  Villa  Lucani — mox  potieris  aco" 

The  satires  of  Lucilius  must  have  possessed  nobler  qual- 
ities than  those  of  style.  The  poet  was  a  man  of  high 
moral  principle,  and  devotedly  attached  to  the  cause 
of  virtue,  a  relentless  enemy  of  vice,  and  a  gallant  and 
fearless  defender  of  truth  and  honesty.  Like  Juvenal, 
he  felt  "  difficile  est  non  satiram  scribere."  No  won- 
der, then,  that  we  find  him  eloquent  when  he  speaks 
of  virtue,  as  in  the  following  passage  preserved  by 
Lactantius : 

"  Virtus,  Albine,  est  pretium  persolvere  verum 
Queis  in  versamur,  queis  vivimu'  rebu'  potesse, 
Virtus  est  hoinini  scire  id  quod  quaeque  habeat  res. 
Virtus,  scire  homini  rectum,  utile,  quid  sit  honestnm, 
Qua9  bona,  quse  mala,  item  quid  inutile  turpe  inhonestum. 
Virtus,  quaerendaB  finem  rei  scire  modmnque ; 
Virtus,  devitiis  pretium  persolvere  posse. 
Virtus,  id  dare  quod  reipsa  debetur  honori, 
Hostem  esse  atque  iniinicum  hominum  morumque  malorum; 
Contra,  defensorem  hominum  morumque  bonornm ; 
Magnificare  hos,  his  bene  velle,  his  vivere  amicum ; 
Oommoda  praterea  patriai  prima  putare, 
Deinde  parentum,  tertia  jam  postremaque  nostra." 


134  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

CHAPTER  V. 

PEOSE — HISTORY. 

WE  have  many  fragments  extant  from  the  writers 
of  history  belonging  to  this  first  era.  We  might  say 
that  all  their  writings  have  been  preserved  in  the  com- 
positions of  the  historians  of  the  following  centuries. 
Since  we  have  no  complete  work  from  any  of  them, 
we  will  but  give  the  names,  and  add  a  few  brief  re- 
marks upon  each  of  them. 

Q.  Fabius  Pictor,  who  lived  in  the  time  of  Naevius, 
was  the  first  Roman  who  wrote  an  historical  account 
of  his  country.  Livy  called  him  "scriptorum  anti- 
quissimus."  We  have  but  few  fragments  of  his  writ- 
ings, and  quotations  in  Dionysius  Halicarnassus,  Plu- 
tarch, and  Livy.  Evidently  he  accepted  as  truths  the 
many  fabulous  events,  and,  no  wonder,  since  he  had 
but  the  obscure  traditions  of  those  primitive  ages. 
Livy  copied  him  too  much.  The  name  of  Pictor  was 
given  to  his  grandfather,  who  was  a  celebrated  painter, 
and  who  decorated  the  Temple  of  Salus,  dedicated  302 
B.  c.  That  temple  could  be  seen  in  the  time  of  Clau- 
dius, when  it  was  burned.  The  book  of  Fabius  was 
written  in  Greek ;  its  loss  is  not  to  be  regretted. 

L.  Cincins  Alimentns  was  a  contemporary  of  Fabius. 
He  is  quoted  by  Livy,  and  Aulus  Gellius,  as  having 
written  in  Greek  a  history  of  Rome,  and  a  treatise, 
«  De  Re  Militaria."  The  two  books  are  lost. 

Acilius  Glubrio  was  born  in  210  B.  o.  He  also  wrote 
a  history  in  Greek,  which  was  translated  into  Latin 


PROSE-HISTORY.  135 

by  Claudius,  and  referred  to  often  by  Livy.  The  book 
is  lost. 

M.  Porcius  Cato  Censorinus, — This  great  man  was 
born  at  Tusculum,  in  232,  of  an  humble  family ;  lie 
was  the  grandfather  of  M.  Cato  Uticensis.  After  many 
years  spent  on  a  farm,  where  he  led  a  perfect  life,  in 
the  pagan  acceptation  of  that  word,  he  was  induced  to 
go  to  Rome,  where  he  commenced  his  public  career. 
Cato,  as  a  military  man,  as  an  administrator,  and  as  a 
counsellor,  had  a  career  very  useful  and  very  brilliant. 
"We  might  enter  here  into  many  particulars  referring 
to  his  life,  but  we  have  to  consider  Cato  in  this  sketch 
as  a  literary  man  only.  His  name  of  Censorinus  arises 
from  his  zeal  for  the  keeping  of  the  laws  at  Home,  and 
from  his  efforts  in  order  to  prevent  the  Romans  from 
departing  from  their  ancient  customs.  He  wrote  many 
books,  but  we  have  only  one  extant,  and  very  likely 
this  is  not  complete,  since  we  do  not  find  in  it  some 
references  pointed  out  by  Livy.  The  work  we  have  is 
"  De  Re  Rustica,"  a  mere  treatise  on  husbandry,  writ- 
ten without  order,  in  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  chap- 
ters, for  his  son.  The  style  is  familiar,  and,  among 
many  other  things,  we  find  in  it  the  notions  of  the  most 
virtuous  Roman  about  slaves.  "When  they  are  old  and 
sick,  Cato  classes  them:  "Ferramenta  vetera,  servum 
senem,  servum  morbosum,  et  si  quid  aliud  supersit 
vendat." 

Cato  wrote  one  hundred  and  fifty  orations,  which 
were  extant  in  the  time  of  Cicero,  and  were  much 
praised  by  him.  He  wrote  a  book  on  military  dis- 
cipline, but  the  one  whose  loss  is  most  to  be  deplored 
is  his  work,  in  six  books,  "  De  Originibus."  It  was  a 


136  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

history  of  the  kings  of  Rome,  often  quoted  by  Cor- 
nelius Nepos,  who  has  given  us  the  substance  of  it. 
He  also  wrote  a  book  on  medicine,  the  fruit  of  his  ex- 
perience. His  "  Apophthegmata  "  are  spoken  of  by 
Cicero,  in  his  book  "  De  Officiis."  He  also  wrote  a 
"  Carmen  de  Moribus,"  which  carmen,  it  seems,  was 
not  written  in  verse.  A  book,  containing  the  "  Ori- 
gines  "  of  Cato,  was  published  in  1498,  under  the  title 
"  Antiquitates  Yariae,"  but  it  contained  only  spurious 
fragments.  We  may  judge  of  the  appearance  of  Cato 
by  the  following  epigram  : 

Hvppov,  TravSaKerrjv,  <^\avKo^ifjuirov,  ovSe  Oavoina 
HopKLov  ei9  ai&rjv 


Which  we  may  translate  :  "  With  his  red  hair,  con- 
stant snarl,  and  gray  eyes,  Proserpine  would  not  re- 
ceive Porcius,  even  after  death,  into  Hades."  Of  the 
orations  of  Cato  ninety  titles  are  extant,  and  numerous 
fragments.  His  style  was  abrupt,  concise,  witty,  and 
full  of  contrast. 

After  Cato  we  have  many  historians  of  whose  works 
fragments  only  are  extant.  We  may  give  the  names 
of  Hemina,  who  wrote  five  or  six  books  of  Roman  an- 
nals, in  which  many  fables  were  found.  After  him, 
Fabius  Maximus  Servilianus  (150),  Faunius,  and  Venno- 
nius,  wrote  annals,  the  fragments  of  which  show  that 
their  Latin  was  not  very  elegant. 

P.  Sempronius  Asellio  wrote  a  memoir  on  the  Nu- 
mantian  War. 

C.  Julius  Gracchanus  wrote  a  constitutional  history 
of  Rome.  The  work  is  lost,  but  it  is  often  quoted  by 
the  jurists  as  a  reliable  authority. 


PROSE— HISTORY.  137 

S.  Fabius  Pictor,  and  Calpurnius  Fiso  Censorius,  also 
wrote  annals,  but  Livy  called  Piso  a  liar.  Piso  was  an 
honest  man,  but  not  an  honest  historian.  Cicero  speaks 
of  him  in  his  discourse  "  Pro  Archia  Poe'ta,"  where  he 
also  gives  the  names  of  JEmilius  Scaurus,  and  Rutilius 
Rufus.  Rutilius  wrote  autobiographies,  and  his  ex- 
ample was  followed  by  Sulla,  who  gave  his  memoirs  in 
twenty-two  books.  All  these  historians,  from  whom 
we  have  but  quotations,  are  praised  by  Cicero  for  their 
latinity. 

The  last  historians  before  the  second  era  were  Ma- 
cer,  C.  Quadrigarius,  and  Valerius  Antias.  They  col- 
lected traditions,  and  wrote  valuable  books,  whence 
Livy  has  taken  many  documents.  These  three  writers 
are  not  praised  for  their  style ;  that  of  Quadrigarius 
especially  is  abrupt  and  sententious.  No  Roman  his- 
torian ever  made  greater  pretensions  to  accuracy  than 
Antias,  and  no  one  was  less  trustworthy.  Livy  never 
hesitates  to  call  him  a  liar,  and  he  is  right,  for  he  has 
been  guilty  of  many  falsehoods. 

Two  more  important  names  remain  to  be  mentioned 
among  the  annalists.  They  were  Cornelius  Sisenna, 
often  quoted  by  Sallust,  and  JElius  Tubero,  quoted  once 
by  Dionysius  and  twice  by  Livy. 


138  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PEOSE — ELOQUENCE GBAMMABIAN8. 

ELOQUENCE  must  have  been  an  early  characteristic 
of  the  Roman  people — it  is  a  plant  indigenous  to  a  free 
soil.  There  was  political  eloquence  in  a  city  where 
there  was  a  constant  struggle  between  the  various 
classes  of  the  people.  There  was  in  the  army  a  mili- 
tary eloquence,  to  excite  the  heroism  of  the  soldiers. 
Cicero  speaks  of  a  discourse,  composed  before  Naevius 
had  written  any  poetry ;  it  was  the  discourse  of  Appius 
Claudius  against  Pyrrhus.  Cicero  had  read  it.  Some 
funeral  orations  also,  of  these  early  times,  existed  in 
the  time  of  Cicero.  The  one  of  Metellus,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  second  Punic  War,  is  quoted  by 
Livy,  fourth  book.  Livy  has  preserved  also  the  ora- 
tion of  Scipio  Africanus  Major,  defending  himself  be- 
fore the  senate  after  the  defeat  of  Hannibal.  We  have 
spoken  of  Cato,  who  was  a  real  orator ;  the  father  of 
the  Gracchi  was  also  very  distinguished.  Scipio  Af- 
ricanus, Minor,  the  son  of  Paulus  ^Emilianus,  and  his 
friend  Laelius,  were  two  great  orators.  We  have  some 
fragments  of  their  discourses. 

The  period  of  the  Gracchi  (150)  produced  many 
orators.  These  were  Papirius  Carbo,  ^Emilius  Scau- 
rus,  Rutilius  Rufus,  and  the  Gracchi  themselves ;  also 
their  mother,  who  was  the  daughter  of  Scipio.  Cicero 
speaks  of  her  letters,  which  were  extant  in  his  time,  as 
being  models  of  eloquence.  Several  fragments  only 
remain  of  all  the  writings  of  these  orators. 


PROSE— ELOQUENCE— GRAMMARIANS.  139 

Between  the  Gracchi  and  Cicero  we  had  : 
M.  Antonius  Crassus,  who  fell  a  victim  to  political 
fury.     Cicero  has  quoted  some  of  his  most  admired 


L.  Licinius  Crassus,  born  at  Rome,  in  140,  was  first 
a  lawyer,  but  he  became  a  political  orator.  His  mas- 
terpiece is  his  oration  "  Pro  lege  Servilia,"  in  order  to 
return  to  the  senate  the  judicial  office  which  had  been 
taken  from  it  by  the  "  Lege  Semproniana."  He  was 
what  may  be  called  the  most  ornamental  speaker  that 
had  hitherto  appeared  in  the  Forum.  Though  not 
without  force,  gravity,  and  dignity,  these  were  happily 
blended  with  the  most  insinuating  politeness,  urbanity, 
ease,  and  gayety.  He  was  master  of  the  most  pure  and 
accurate  language,  and  of  perfect  elegance  of  expres- 
sion, without  any  affectation  or  unpleasant  appearance 
of  previous  study.  Great  clearness  of  language  dis- 
tinguished all  his  harangues,  and,  while  descanting  on 
topics  of  law  or  equity,  he  possessed  an  inexhaustible 
fund  of  argument  and  illustration.  Some  persons  con- 
sidered Crassus  as  only  equal  to  Autonius ;  others  pre- 
ferred him,  as  the  more  perfect  and  accomplished 
orator.  As  a  public  speaker,  Crassns  was  remarkable 
for  his  diffidence  in  the  opening  of  a  speech — a  diffi- 
dence which  never  forsook  him — and,  after  the  prac- 
tice of  a  long  life  at  the  bar,  he  was  frequently  so  much 
agitated  in  the  exordium  of  a  discourse  a*s  to  grow  pale, 
and  tremble  in  every  joint  of  his  frame. 

Cicero  selected  him  to  be  the  representative  of  his 
sentiments  in  the  "  Oratore."  He  felt  that  their  tastes 
were  congenial.  Crassus  almost  died  on  the  floor  of 
the  senate-house;  he  took  the  defence  of  the  aristo- 


140  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

cratic  party,  and  his  opponent  was  Philippus,  the  con- 
sul. The  controversy  grew  very  warm,  and  Crassus 
fell  in  a  paroxysm.  This  was  too  much  for  him ;  fever 
ensued,  and  in  seven  days  he  was  a  corpse. 

He  had  the  school  for  rhetoricians  shut  up  because 
he  found  that  it  was  introducing,  with  Greek  manners, 
Greek  corruption ;  but  he  has  "been  blamed  for  that 
measure.  "We  have  two  orations  only  from  him. 

Q.  Hortensius  was  born  at  Kome,  of  a  plebeian  family, 
in  114:.  He  was  for  some  time  the  prince  of  orators, 
until  the  star  of  Cicero  arose.  They  first  came  in  con- 
tact in  the  cause  of  Quintius,  and,  later,  in  that  of  Ver- 
res ;  of  course,  Hortensius  was  beaten.  But  the  two 
orators  were  afterward  very  good  friends,  having  iden- 
tical views  in  politics.  Hortensius  had  a  daughter  who 
wrote  discourses,  and  one  of  them  was  read  in  the  time 
of  Quintilian  for  the  sake  of  its  own  merits. 

The  diction  of  Hortensius  was  noble,  eloquent,  and 
rich  ;  his  voice  strong  and  pleasing,  and  his  gestures 
carefully  studied.  The  eloquence  of  Hortensius  would 
seem,  in  fact,  to  have  been  of  that  showy  species  called 
Asiatic,  which  flourished  in  the  Greek  colonies  of  Asia 
Minor.  This  glowing  style  of  rhetoric,  though  de- 
ficient in  solidity  and  weight,  was  not  unsuitable  in  a 
young  man,  being  further  recommended  by  a  beautiful 
cadence  of  periods,  and  attended  by  the  utmost  ap- 
plause. But  Hortensius,  as  he  advanced  in  age,  did 
not  correct  this  exuberance,  nor  adopt  a  chaster  elo- 
quence ;  and  this  luxury  and  glitter  of  phraseology, 
which,  even  in  his  earliest  years,  had  occasionally  ex- 
cited ridicule  and  disgust  among  the  graver  fathers  of 
the  senatorial  order,  being  totally  inconsistent  with  his 


PROSE— ELOQUENCE— GRAMMARIANS.  141 

advanced  age  and  consular  dignity,  which  required 
something  more  serious  and  composed,  his  reputa- 
tion, in  consequence,  diminished  with  the  increase  of 
years. 

Hortensius,  who  was  most  extravagant  in  his  life, 
owes  perhaps  to  the  friendship  of  Cicero  the  acqui- 
sition of  some  celebrity,  for  he  was  very  vain,  and  re- 
mained a  young  man  all  his  life.  There  was  only  one 
oration  extant  from  him  in  the  time  of  Quintilian. 

Toward  the  conclusion  of  this  literary  period  a  great 
increase  took  place  in  the  numbers  of  those  learned 
men  whom  the  Komans  termed  "  literati,"  but  who  af- 
terward were  called,  according  to  the  Greek  custom, 
"  grammatici  "  (grammarians).  Few  of  them  were  au- 
thors, but,  owing  to  their  learning,  they  exercised  a 
powerful  influence  over  the  public  mind  as  professors, 
critics,  and  school-masters.  We  may  mention  the  names 
of  Lenaens,  a  freedman  of  Pompey  the  Great ;  of  Servius 
Clodius,  a  Roman  knight ;  and  also  of  JElius  Stilo,  and 
Valerius  Cato,  who  was  a  poet. 

We  have  traced  the  rise  ancl  progress  of  Roman 
literature ;  the  dawn  has  gently  broken,  the  light  has 
steadily  increased,  and  is  succeeded  by  the  noonday 
brilliance  of  the  Golden  Age. 


BOOK  II. 

THE  GOLDEN  AGE.— ERA  OF  CICERO  AND  AUGUSTUS. 


DURING  this  period  Roman  literature  attained  the 
highest  point  of  perfection ;  this  time  was  above  680 
years  from  the  foundation  of  Rome,  when  Cicero  was 
between  thirty  and  forty  years  old.  Poetry  still  con- 
tinues to  improve  during  this  period,  for  we  find  much 
difference  between  the  verses  of  Lucretius  and  those 
of  Yirgil,  in  regard  to  metrical  structure  and  diction. 
The  dramatic  literature  disappeared,  and  was  replaced 
by  the  Mimes,  a  sort  of  entertainment  which  acquired 
much  popularity.  There  was  a  great  difference  be- 
tween the  Greek  mimes  and  the  Latin  ones.  The 
Greek  mimes  were  without  verse ;  they  were  dialogues, 
not  dramatic  pieces,  and  were  never  exhibited  on  the 
stage.  The  'Roman  mimes  were  laughable  imitations 
of  manners  and  persons,  and  so  combined  features  of 
comedy  and  farce.  It  was  a  pantomime,  where  mim- 
icry and  burlesque  dialogue  were  accidentally  intro- 
duced. After  a  time  the  dialogue  occupied  a  more 
prominent  position,  and  was  written  in  verse.  We 
have,  during  the  Golden  Age,  two  writers  of  mimes 
who  acquired  much  celebrity. 


POETRY.  143 


CHAPTEE  I. 

POETRY. 

Section  I. —  Writers  of  Mimes. 

Deems  Laberius. — He  was  a  Horn  an  knight,  but,  al- 
though the  profession  of  an  artist  was  infamous  for  a 
man  of  his  rank,  he  could  not  resist  the  temptation, 
and  became  an  actor  and  an  author.  He  wrote  forty- 
three  mimes ;  we  have  but  the  titles  and  a  few  frag- 
ments of  them.  We  may  judge  by  them  of  the  qual- 
ities of  Laberius ;  he  was  very  sarcastic,  very  witty, 
very  prompt  and  happy  in  his  answers.  He  showed 
also  much  boldness  in  several  circumstances.  His 
style  was  very  good. 

In  order  to  judge  of  his  quickness  and  readiness  in 
repartee,  we  have  but  to  quote  the  following  verses. 
While,  one  day,  he  had  been  vanquished  by  his  adver- 
sary Syrus,  Caesar  said  to  him  with  a  sneer : 

"Favente  tibi  me,  victus  es,  Liberi,  a  Syro." 
He  replied  with  the  following  sad  but  true  reflections : 

"  Non  possunt  primi  esse  omnes  oinni  in  tempore, 
Summum  ad  gradum  cum  claritatis  veneris 
Consistes  aegre ;  et  quum  descendas  decides ; 
Cecidi  ego,  cadet  qni  seqnitur,  laus  est  publica." 

C.  Matins  was  called  Calvena  on  account  of  his 
baldness.  His  mimes  were  called  Mimiambi,  because 
he  wrote  in  the  iambic  measure.  He  was  especially 
remarkable  for  his  skill  in  the  introduction  of  new 


144  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

words.  "We  can  judge  him  only  by  the  quotations  of 
Cicero,  as  none  of  his  pieces  are  extant 

Publius  Syrns  was  a  slave  from  Syria,  and  was  freed 
by  Publius,  hence  his  double  name ;  he  wrote  many 
mimes,  but  we  have  none  left.  What  remains  from 
Syrus  are  eight  or  nine  hundred  maxims,  very  seldom 
exceeding  one  line,  but  containing  reflections  of  un- 
rivalled force,  truth,  and  beauty,  on  all  the  various  re- 
lations, situations,  and  feelings  of  human  life.  Those 
maxims  were  a  sort  of  store  of  commonplaces  and  pre- 
cepts of  morality,  which  they  could  introduce  appro- 
priately in  their  extemporaneous  performances. 

The  mimes,  soon  after  Augustus,  were  replaced  by 
Pantomimes,  exhibitions  which  threw  a  great  discredit 
on  the  stage,  on  account  of  their  being  sensual  and 
licentious.  Even  under  the  reign  of  Augustus,  the 
pantomime  was  already  popular. 

Section  II. — Elegiac  Poetry. 

C.  Valeria  Catullus  was  born  at  Yerona,  in  86.  He 
came  very  early  to  Home,  where  he  led  a  profligate 
life,  and  died  when  he  was  but  thirty  years  old ;  some, 
however,  say  when  he  was  forty-one  years  of  age.  His 
poems,  which  are  numerous,  are  chiefly  employed  in 
the  indulgence  and  consummation  of  his  loves.  They 
have  been  divided  in  lyric,  elegiac,  and  epigrammatic. 
He  seems  to  have  been  the  earliest  lyric  poet  of  Latium, 
although  Horace  claims  the  same  honor.  Much  of  his 
poetry  appears  to  have  been  lost. 

Many  of  his  amatory  trifles  are  quite  unrivalled  in 
the  elegance  of  their  playfulness,  and  no  author  has 


POETRY.  145 

excelled  him  in  the  purity  and  neatness  of  his  style, 
the  delightful  ease  and  simplicity  of  his  manner,  and 
his  graceful  turn  of  thought  and  happiness  of  expres- 
sion. Some  of  his  productions  breathe  the  highest 
enthusiasm  of  the  art,  and  are  colored  with  a  singular 
picturesqueness  of  imagery.  Catullus  was  well  versed 
in  Greek  literature,  and  he  translated  many  of  the 
shorter  and  more  delicate  pieces  of  the  Greeks.  Here  is 
an  example ;  it  is  a  translation  of  an  elegy  of  Sappho : 

"  Hie  ml  par  esse  Deo  videtur, 
Ille,  si  fas  est,  superare  divos, 
Qui  sedens  adversus,  identidem  te 
Spectat  et  audit. 

"Dulce  ridentem:  misero  quod  omnis 
Eripit  sensus  mihi ;  nam  simul  te, 
Lesbia,  aspexi,  nihil  est  super  ml 
Voce  loquendum. 

"Lingua  sed  torpet;  tenues  sub  artus 
Flamma  dimanat ;  sonitu  suopte 
Tinniunt  aures ;  gemma  tegtmtur 
Lumina  nocte." 

In  all  his  verses,  whether  elegiac  or  heroic,  we  per- 
ceive his  imitation  of  the  Greeks.  His  Hellenisms  are 
frequent,  and  his  images,  similes,  metaphors,  are  all 
Greek.  We  have  seen  a  translation;  let  us  give  a 
specimen  of  his  own  composition  in  the  elegiac  style. 
He  wrote  it  after  having  visited  the  grave  of  his 
brother,  buried  in  Asia : 

"Multas  per  gentes,  et  rnulta  per  sequora  vectus, 

Adveni  has  miseras,  frater,  ad  inferias. 
Ut  te  postremo  donarem  munere  mortis 
Et  mutum  nequidquam  alloquerer  cinereia. 
7 


146  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

Quandoquidem  for  tun  a  mihi  tete  abstulit  ipsnm 

Has  miser  indigne  frater  adempte  mihi  I 
None  tamen  interea  prisco  quae  more  parentum 

Tradita  sub  tristes  munera  ad  inferias 
Accipe  fraterno  multum  manantia  fletu 

Atque  in  perpetuum,  frater,  ave  atque  vale !  " 

Although  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  his  poetry 
are  chiefly  to  be  found  in  his  lyric  and  elegiac  poems, 
there  are  in  his  longer  pieces,  which  are  less  known 
and  less  admired,  passages  of  singular  sweetness  and 
beauty.  Catullus  had  not  sufficient  grasp  and  com- 
prehensiveness of  mind  to  conduct  an  epic  poem. 
The  poem  entitled  "  The  Marriage  of  Peleus  and  The- 
tis," bears  some  resemblance  to  an  heroic  poem.  The 
most  beautiful  passage  is  the  episode  relating  the  story 
of  Theseus  and  Ariadne,  commencing  with  the  follow- 
ing verses : 

"  Siccine  discedens,  neglecto  numine  divum, 
Immemor  ah  I  devota  domum  perjuria  portas  ? 
Nulla  ne  res  potuit  crudelis  flectere  mentis 
Consilium?  tibi  nulla  fait  dementia  prsesto, 
Immite  ut  nostri  vellet  mitescere  pectus? " 

There  were  living  at  Home,  in  the  time  of  Catullus, 
several  poets,  who  wrote  elegiac  verses,  but  whose  com- 
positions are  not  extant.  Very  likely  their  merits  did 
not  satisfy  the  fastidious  taste  of  the  Augustan  age,  and 
this  is  the  reason  why  Horace  and  his  contemporaries 
did  not  preserve  their  writings.  They  were  Licinius 
Calvus,  Helvius  Cinna,  Valerius  Cato,  Valgius,  Ticida, 
and  Varro  Atacinus.  All  these  poets  are  mentioned 
by  Virgil,  Pliny,  Suetonius,  and,  in  general,  by  the 
grammarians. 


POETRY.  147 

Albius  Tibullus,  born  probably  in  54  before  Christ, 
was  a  contemporary  of  Virgil  and  Horace.  He  was 
of  an  equestrian  family.  During  the  trouble  of  the 
civil  wars  he  lost. his  paternal  estate,  and  owed  his  for- 
tune to  the  favors  of  Maecenas.  He  wrote  four  books 
of  elegies ;  the  style  and  tone  are,  like  his  character, 
deficient  in  vigor  and  manliness,  but  sweet,  smooth, 
polished,  tender,  and  never  disfigured  by  bad  taste. 
He  does  not  deserve  the  censure  of  Niebuhr,  who  stig- 
matizes him  as  a  disagreeable  poet  because  of  his  dole- 
ful and  weeping  melancholy.  The  characteristics  of 
Tibullus  are  simplicity,  and  natural  and  unaffected 
genius.  His  elegies  celebrate  the  beauty,  inconstancy, 
and  cruelty  of  his  mistresses.  Tibullus  died  young, 
shortly  after  Yirgil,  if  we  may  trust  the  following  epi- 
taph, contained  in  the  "  Latin  Anthology  :  " 

"  Te  quoque  Virgilio  consitem  non  aequa,  Tibulle, 

More  juvenem  campos  misit  in  ^Elysios, 
Fe  foret,  ant  elegis  molles  qni  fleret  amores, 
Ant  caneret  forti  regia  bella  pede." 

Some  writers  pretend,  and  their  opinion  is,  prob- 
ably, that  two  only  of  the  four  books  of  Tibullus's  ele- 
gies are  genuine,  and  these  are  the  third  and  fourth. 

S.  Amelias  Propertius. — Very  little  is  known  con- 
cerning the  life  and  personal  history  of  Propertius. 
He  was  born  in  Umbria,  about  700  from  the  founda- 
tion of  Home,  and,  like  his  contemporaries — Virgil, 
Horace,  and  Tibullns — he  was  a  sufferer  from  the  con- 
sequences of  the  civil  wars.  Propertius  cultivated 
poetry  at  a  very  early  age  but,  his  imitations  from 
the  Greek  are  too  studied,  and  too  apparent,  to  permit 
him  to  lay  claim  to  great  natural  genius.  Nature  alone 


148  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

could  give  the  touching  tenderness  of  Tibullus,  and  the 
facility  of  Ovid.  The  absence  of  original  fancy  is  con- 
cealed by  minute  attention  to  the  outward  form  of 
poetry.  His  pentameters  are  often  inharmonious. 

According  to  Quintilian,  the  critics  of  his  day  some- 
what overrated  his  merits,  for  they  could  scarcely  de- 
cide the  question  of  superiority  between  him  and  Ti- 
bullus ;  but,  evidently,  the  solution  is  easy.  Propertius 
is  far  below  Tibullus  for  natural  talent  and  genius. 
His  poetry  is  not  so  polluted  with  indelicacy  as  that 
of  Ovid,  but  still  it  is  often  sensual  and  licentious. 
We  have  four  books  of  elegies  from  Propertius,  and,  if 
we  except  those  of  the  fourth  book,  consecrated  mostly 
to  the  praises  of  Augustus.  Those  found  in  the  first 
three  refer  almost  always  to  his  mistress  Cynthia,  and, 
according  to  Martial,  she  owes  to  him  her  immortality, 
while  he  owes  to  his  love  for  her  the  inspiration  which 
immortalizes  him: 

"  Cynthia,  facundi  carmen  juvenile  Properti, 
Accepit  famam  nee  minus  ilia  dedit." 

The  date  of  the  poet's  death  is  unknown,  but  the  prob- 
ability is  that  he  died  young,  at  the  age  of  forty. 

C.  Cornelius  Gallus  was  born  in  66  before  Christ,  and 
was  more  distinguished  as  a  general  than  as  a  poet. 
Except  a  single  line  from  one  of  his  elegies,  not  a  ves- 
tige remains  of  his  poetry,  and  the  pieces  attributed  to 
him  are  not  genuine.  No  judgment  respecting  his 
merits  can  be  formed  from  the  contradictory  criticisms 
of  the  ancients. 


POETRY.  149 

Section  III, — Epigrammatic  and  Didactic  Poetry. 

C.  Cilnius  Maecenas,  the  first  minister  of  Augustus, 
the  great  friend  of  Yirgil  and  Horace,  the  protector  of 
savants  of  that  period,  wrote  verses ;  but,  from  the 
confession  of  all  the  critics,  his  attempts  at  poetry  were 
very  contemptible;  still,  by  his  good  taste  and  mu- 
nificence, he  exercised  a  great  influence  upon  literature, 
and  the  literary  men  of  Home  were  much  indebted 
to  him  for  the  use  which  he  made  of  his  confidential 
friendship  with  Augustus.  Few  fragments  remain  of 
his  epigrams.  The  following  lines  will  show  sufficient- 
ly, among  many  defects,  his  unintelligible  obscurity : 

"  Sole  et  Aurora  rubent  plurima 
Inter  sacra  movit  aqua  fraxinos : 
Ne  exequias  quidem  unus  inter  miserrimos 
Viderem  meas." 

C.  Valgins  Rufus  was  a  great  favorite  of  Horace.  We 
have  no  records  of  his  life,  and  of  his  writings  only  a 
few  short  isolated  passages  are  extant.  We  find  three 
quotations  in  Quintilian;  Seneca  mentions  him,  and 
Pliny  praises  his  erudition. 

L.  Varins  Rufas  was  one  of  the  constant  guests  of 
Maecenas's  table.  Scarcely  any  thing  is  known  of  him. 
The  titles  of  two  of  his  poems  are  extant :  1.  "  De 
Morte ; "  2.  "  Panegyric  of  Augustus."  Of  the  former, 
four  fragments  are  preserved  by  Macrobius ;  of  the  lat- 
ter, two  lines  have  been  preserved,  and  are  found  in- 
troduced in  the  sixteenth  epistle  of  the  first  book  of 
Horace. 

JEmilius  Macer  wrote  a  poem  which  is  only  known 
through  two  verses  of  the  "Tristia"  of  Ovid,  which 


150  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

state  that  it  treated  of  birds,  serpents,  and  medicinal 
herbs.  He  was  born  at  Yerona,  and  died  in  Asia,  16 
after  Christ.  Here  are  the  two  verses  of  Ovid : 

"  Srope  suus  volucres  legit  mihi  grandior  cevo. 
Quseque  necet  serpens,  qusB  juvet  herba  Macer." 

Quintilian  compared  his  poem  to  the  one  of  Lucretins, 
and  said  that  Macer  was  superior  in  elegance,  but  that 
the  style  was  deficient  in  dignity. 

Ovidius  Naso  was  born  at  Salmo  (Abruzzi),  on  the 
day  of  the  murder  of  Cicero,  in  the  year  43  B.  c.  His 
family  was  equestrian,  and  had  been  so  for  some  gener- 
ations. Ovid  had  a  brother,  one  year  elder  than  him- 
self;  they  both  went  to  Rome,  when  they  were  young, 
and  studied  rhetoric  under  good  masters.  We  may 
see,  by  the  discourse  of  Ajax  and  Ulysses,  that  Ovid 
was  a  good  rhetorician ;  but  he  felt  that  he  had  a  vo- 
cation for  poetry,  and,  although,  in  order  to  comply 
with  his  father's  wishes,  he  cultivated  eloquence,  and 
left  aside  poetry,  still  he  was  a  poet  against  his  own 
will,  for  whatever  he  wrote  was  verse. 

His  rank,  talent,  and  fortune,  enabled  him  to  culti- 
vate the  society  of  the  literary  men  of  his  age,  but  al- 
ready Horace  and  Virgil,  and  also  Tibullus,  had  gone. 
Ovid  was  married  three  times ;  he  was  twice  divorced, 
but  loved  his  third  wife  sincerely,  who  belonged  to  the 
Fabian  family.  Ovid  was  an  Epicurean  in  his  tastes, 
and  a  skeptic,  and  he  lived  a  life  of  continual  self-in- 
dulgence and  intrigue. 

Ovid  was  popular  as  a  poet,  he  was  successful  in 
society,  and  he  possessed  all  the  enjoyments  which 
wealth  can  bestow.  But  this  sunny  life  at  length  came 


POETRY.  151 

to  an  end ;  when  his  hair  became  tinged  with  white, 
and  he  had  reached  his  fiftieth  year,  he  incurred  by 
some  fault  the  anger  of  Augustus,  and  was  banished 
to  Tomi.  This  place,  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Danube,  in  the  country  of  the  Getae,  has  a  very  un- 
pleasant and  unhealthy  climate.  Ovid  went  there  in 
winter,  and  there  lived  ten  years.  He  died  at  the  age 
of  sixty-one. 

Most  of  the  poems  of  Ovid  might  be  considered  as 
elegiac,  but  his  "Metamorphoses,"  which  constitute 
the  best  part  of  his  writings,  were  didactic,  and  to  that 
style  also  belongs  "  The  Art  of  Love."  One  of  his 
earliest  works  are  his  "  Amores,"  a  collection  of  ele- 
gies, most  of  which  are  addressed  to  his  favorite  Co- 
rinna.  They  form  three  books.  Licentiousness  dis- 
figures these  annals  of  his  "  Amours ; "  some  passages 
even  are  so  lewd  that  they  have  never  been  translated. 
This  work  shows  a  wonderful  talent  for  poetry.  The 
twenty-one  "Epistolse  Heroidum"  (epistles  to  and 
from  women  of  the  heroic  age)  are  a  series  of  love- 
letters  ;  their  characteristic  feature  is  passion.  Their 
great  merit  consists  in  the  neatness  of  the  sentiments 
expressed,  and  the  sweetness  of  the  versification ;  their 
great  defect  is  the  want  of  variety. 

"  The  Art  of  Love  "  shows  the  grossness  into  which 
love  had  fallen  at  the  time  of  Ovid ;  it  had  nothing 
chivalrous  and  pure,  but  it  was  carnal  and  sensual. 
The  instructions  contained  in  the  first  two  books,  ad- 
dressed to  men,  are  fit  only  for  the  seducer.  The  third 
is  fit  only  for  abandoned  women.  "  The  Remedies  of 
Love  "  followed  "  The  Art  of  Love."  "  Let  him,"  says 
Ovid,  "  who  taught  you  to  love,  teach  you  also  to  cure ; 


152  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

one  hand  shall  inflict  the  wound  and  minister  the 
bairn."  His  "Metamorphoses"  consist  of  fifteen 
books,  and  contain  a  series  of  mythological  narratives 
from  the  earliest  times  to  the  translation  of  the  soul 
of  Julius  Caesar  to  heaven,  and  his  metamorphosis  into 
a  star. 

This  poem  is  Ovid's  noblest  effort ;  it  approaches 
very  near  to  the  epic  form.  We  admire  everywhere 
his  natural  facility  in  versification,  his  picturesque 
truthfulness  and  force,  the  richest  fancy  combined  with 
grandeur  and  dignity.  Among  the  most  beautiful  por- 
tions may  be  enumerated  the  "  Story  of  Phaeton  "  in 
which  the  description  of  the  palace  of  the  sun  is  es- 
pecially remarkable ;  "  The  Golden  Age,"  "  Philemon 
and  Baucis,"  "  The  Adventures  of  Pyramus  and  This- 
be,"  "Narcissus  at  the  Fountain,"  "The  Cave  of 
Sleep,"  "Daedalus  and  Icarus,"  "The  Soliloquy  of 
Medea."  A  more  extensive  knowledge  of  mythology 
may  be  derived  from  this  book  than  from  the  Greeks 
themselves.  It  is  g<&d  to  notice  that  the  twelve  con- 
cluding books  were  not  reviewed  by  the  author ;  Ovid 
left  for  Torni,  not  having  had  time  to  correct  his  poem, 
and  he  had  no  opportunity  afterward  to  attend  to  that 
correction.  He  therefore  thought  it  necessary  to  ap- 
prise his  friends  in  Italy  that  the  work  had  not  re- 
ceived his  last  emendations,  and,  as  an  apology  for  its 
imperfections,  he  proposes  that  the  six  following  lines 
should  be  prefixed  as  a  motto  to  the  copies  of  his 
"  Metamorphoses  "  which  were  then  circulating  in  the 
capital  ("Tristia'M.,  6): 

"Orba  parente  suo  quicamque  volumina  tangis; 
His  saltern  vestra  detur  in  urbe  locus. 


POETfcY.  153 

Quoque  magis  faveas,  non  hroc  sunt  edita  ab  ipso, 

Sed  quasi  de  domini  ftinere  rapta  sui. 
Quicquid  in  his  igitur  vitii  rude  carmea  habebit, 

Emendaturus,  si  licuisset,  erat." 

"  The  Fasti "  is  an  antiquarian  poem  of  the  Eoman 
calendar.  Ovid  completed  only  the  first  six  books; 
he  intended  to  have  twelve,  one  for  each  month. 

"  Sex  ego  Fastorum  scripsi,  totidem  qne  libellos 
Cumque  suo  finem  mense  volumen  habet." 

It  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of  simple  narrative  in 
verse,  and  it  displays  better  than  any  of  Ovid's  writ- 
ings his  power  of  telling  a  story  in  poetry  as  well  as 
in  prose. 

The  five  books  of  the  "  Tristia,"  and  the  four  books 
of  "Epistles  from  Pontus,"  were  the  outpourings  of 
his  sorrowful  heart  during  the  gloomy  evening  of  his 
days.  There  is  not  so  much  wit  and  genius  as  in  his 
former  compositions,  but  they  are  conceived  in  the 
spirit  of  the  Greek  elegy.  His  minor  poems  consist  of 
an  elegiac  poem,  "  Nux,"  in  which  he  gives  the  fate 
of  a  nut-tree ;  a  satire,  "  Ibis,"  which  is  a  very  bitter 
composition,  most  likely  against  some  faithless  friend ; 
a  poem  entitled  "  Medicamina  Faciei,"  on  cosmetics ; 
another  on  fishing  ("  Halientica  "),  referred  to  often  by 
Pliny  in  his  "  Natural  History,"  and  an  address  of  con- 
dolence to  Livia  Augusta.  Ovid  was  also  the  author 
of  a  tragedy  called  "  Medsea,"  which  has  been  analyzed 
and  praised  by  Quintilian,  but  of  which  only  two  verses 
are  extant.  To  recapitulate,  Ovid  was  a  very  good 
elegiac  and  didactic  poet.  Four  poets  lived  at  the 
time  of  Ovid.  They  were : 


154  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

Gratius  Faliscus,  Pedo  Albinovanus,  A.  Sabinus,  and  It 
Manilius.  The  first  left  a  poem,  in  five  hundred  and 
thirty-six  lines,  called  "  Cynegetica,"  treating  of  the 
chase,  hares,  and  hounds.  The  style  is  harsh  and  pro- 
saic. Of  the  next  two  no  writings  are  extant,  and  the 
last  one  (Manilius)  wrote  an  astronomical  and  astro- 
logical poem,  in  which  he  gives  the  doctrine  of  a  stoical 
pantheism.  It  is  an  incomplete  and  poor  work. 

/Section  IV. — Epic  Poetry. 

Lucretius  Cams  was  born  in  the  year  95  B.  o.  Little 
is  known  of  his  life.  According  to  Eusebius  he  died 
at  the  age  of  forty-four  years,  by  his  own  hand,  in  a 


paroxysm  of  insanity  produced  by  a  philter,  which  Lu- 
cretia,  his  wife  or  mistress,  had  given  him,  with  no 
design  of  depriving  him  of  life  or  reason,  but  to  renew 
or  increase  his  passion. 


POETRY.  155 

He  wrote  a  poem,  in  six  books,  "  De  Kerum  Na- 
tura,"  which  we  have.  It  is  philosophic  and  didactic, 
and  contains  a  full  exposition  of  the  theological,  phys- 
ical, and  moral  system  of  Epicurus.  Notwithstanding 
the  nature  of  the  subject,  which  gave  the  poet  little 
opportunity  for  those  descriptions  of  the  passions  and 
feelings  which  generally  form  the  chief  charm  in  poe- 
try, Lucretius  has  succeeded  in  imparting  to  his  work 
much  of  the  real  spirit  of  poetry,  and,  no  doubt,  if  he 
had  chosen  a  subject  which  would  have  afforded  him 
greater  scope  for  the  exercise  of  his  powers,  he  might 
have  been  ranked  among  the  first  of  poets.  In  no 
writer  does  the  Latin  language  display  its  majestic  and 
stately  grandeur  so  much  as  in  Lucretius.  There  is  a 
power  and  an  energy  which  we  rarely  meet  with  in  the 
Latin  poets ;  and  no  one  who  has  read  his  invocation 
to  Yenus,  at  the  beginning  of  the  poem,  or  his  deline- 
ation of  the  demons  of  superstition,  and  of  the  sacrifice 
of  Iphigenia,  which  we  give  in  part  below,  or  his  beau- 
tiful picture  of  the  busy  pursuits  of  men  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  second  book,  or  the  progress  of  the 
arts  and  sciences  in  the  fifth,  or  his  description  of  the 
plague  which  desolated  Athens,  during  the  Pelopon- 
nesian  War,  at  the  close  of  the  sixth,  can  refuse  to 
allow  Lucretius  a  high  rank  among  the  poets — in  the 
epic  style — of  antiquity. 

In  the  whole  history  of  Koman  taste  and  criticism, 
nothing  appears  so  extraordinary  as  the  slight  mention 
that  is  made  of  Lucretius  by  succeeding  Latin  authors. 
This,  however,  might  be  caused  by  the  materialism 
of  his  philosophy.  The  works  of  Lucretius,  like  one 
of  Yirgil's,  had  not  received  the  finishing  touches  of 


156  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE.  N 

its  author  at  the  period  of  Ms  death.  "We  add  the 
passage  alluded  to  before,  and  we  will  notice  how  beau- 
tifully the  poet  has  caught  the  spirit  and  feeling  of 
Greek  fancy,  and  how  capable  the  Latin  language  now 
was  of  adequately  expressing  them  : 

"  Aulide  quo  pacto  Trivial  Virginia  aram 
Iphianassai  turparnnt  sanguine  fede 
Ductores  Danaum  delectei,  prima  virorum 
Cui  simul  infula,  virgineos  circumdate  comtus, 
Ex  utraque  pan  malarum  parte  profusa  est ; 
Et  maestum  simul  ante  aras  astare  parentem. 
Sensit,  et  hunc  propter  ferrum  celare  ministros, 
Aspectuque  suo  laorumas  effundere  civeis ; 
Muta  metu,  terram  genibus  submissa,  petebat ; 
Nee  miserse  prodesse  in  tali  teuipore  quibat, 
Quod  patrio  princeps  donarat  nomine  regem. 
Nam  sublata  virum  manibus,  tremebnnda  que,  ad  aras 
Deducta  est ;  non  est,  solemni  more  sacrorum 
Perfecto,  posset  claro  comitari  hymenaao ; 
Sed,  casta  incerte,  nubendi  tempore  in  ipso, 
Ilostia  consideret  mactatu  msesta  parentis, 
Exitus  ut  classi  felix  faustusque  daretur. 
Tantum  religio  potnit  suadere  malorum." 

Ovid,  speaking  of  Lucretius,  says  that  "  his  sublime 
strains  shall  never  perish,  until  the  day  when  the  world 
shall  be  given  up  to  destruction." 

P.  Virgilius  Maro  was  born  at  Andes,  a  few  miles 
from  Mantua,  in  the  year  70  B.  o.  His  father  was  a 
man  of  low  birth,  who  gradually  acquired  means  to 
buy  a  farm.  Virgil  commenced  his  studies  at  Cre- 
mona, where  he  remained  until  he  assumed  the  toga 
virilis.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  retired  to  Milan,  and 
afterward  to  Naples,  where  he  laid  the  foundation  of 
his  multifarious  learning. 


POETRY.  157 

Virgil  carefully  read  the  Greek  historians,  but  med- 
icine and  mathematics  were  the  sciences  to  which  he 
was  chiefly  addicted.  Very  likely  from  Naples  Virgil 
did  not  go  to  Kome,  but  went  back  to  his  native  place, 
and  twice  by  his  talent  saved  his  property.  Being 
constantly  in  the  country,  and  captivated  by  the  rural 
beauties  of  "  The  Idyllia  "  of  Theocritus,  Virgil  became 
ambitious  of  introducing  this  new  species  of  poetry  into 
his  native  land,  and  he  commenced  his  "Bucolics." 


The  situation  of  Virgil's  residence  was  low  and  humid ; 
his  delicate  constitution  induced  him,  about  the  year 
714,  when  he  was  thirty  years  old,  to  seek  for  a  warmer 
climate.  Virgil  first  proceeded  to  the  capital,  and  there 
his  fortune  rapidly  increased  by  the  liberality  of  Mae- 
cenas, and  he  did  not  enjoy  less  favor  with  the  em- 
peror than  with  his  minister.  It  was  probably  during 
this  period  of  favor  with  the  emperor  and  his  minister 
that  Virgil  contributed  the  verses  in  celebration  of  the 
deity  who  presided  over  the  gardens  of  Maecenas,  and 


158  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

wrote,  though  without  acknowledging  it,  the  well- 
known  distich  in  honor  of  Augustus  : 

"  Nocte  pluit  tota,  redeunt  spectacula  mane ; 
Divisum  imperium  cum  Jove  Caesar  habet." 

It  seems  that  Bathyllus,  a  contemptible  poet  of  the 
day,  claimed  these  verses  as  his  own,  and  was  liberally 
rewarded.  Vexed  at  the  imposture,  Yirgil  again  wrote 
the  verses  near  the  palace,  and  under  them : 

"Hos  ego  versiculos  feci,  tulit  alter  honores;" 
with  the  beginning  of  another  line — 
"  Sic  vos  non  vobis — " 

four  times  repeated.  Augustus  wished  the  lines  to  be 
finished,  Bathyllus  seemed  unable,  and  Virgil  at  last 
proved  himself  the  author  of  the  distich  by  completing 
the  stanza  in  the  following  manner : 

"Sic  vos  non  vobis  nidificatis  aves ; 
Sic  vos  non  vobis  vellera  fertis  oves; 
Sic  vos  non  vobis  mellificatis  apes 
Sic  vos  non  vobis  fertis  aratra  boves." 

Virgil  retired  to  Naples  in  717,  and  he  dwelt  chiefly 
in  the  neighborhood  of  that  city  for  the  remainder  of 
his  life.  He  now  commenced  his  "  Georgics,"  by 
order  of  Maecenas,  and  continued  for  the  following 
seven  years  closely  occupied  with  this  work. 

Then  "The  ^Eneid"  was  commenced  in  724,  and 
it  occupied  him  until  his  death.  Having  brought  "  The 
JEneid  "  to  conclusion,  Virgil  went  to  Greece.  It  was 
on  undertaking  this  voyage  that  Horace  addressed  to 
him  the  affectionate  ode  beginning — 


POETRY.  159 

"Sic  te  Diva  potens  Cypri,"  etc.— (I.,  3.) 

He  soon  returned  to  Italy,  and  died  at  Brundisium,  in 
734 ;  he  was  then  fifty-one  years  old.  His  tomb  lies 
near  Naples,  on  the  slope  of  the  Pausilippe,  with  the 
following  epitaph  written  by  himself: 

"  Mantua  me  gennit,  Calabri  rapuere ;  tenet  nunc 
Parthenope.     Cecini  pascua,  rura,  duces." 

In  his  pastoral  poetry  Yirgil  was  the  professed  im- 
itator of  Theocritus,  but  Theocritus  surpasses  him  in 
the  variety  of  his  portraits,  and  in.  the  minuteness  and 
accuracy  of  his  descriptions.  Still,  Yirgil  is  superior 
to  Theocritus ;  his  selections  are  very  judicious  and  all 
good ;  he  refused  whatever  was  gross,  and  threw  aside 
what  was  overloaded  and  superfluous.  He  made  his 
shepherds  more  cultivated  than  even  those  of  his  own 
time. 

"  The  Georgics,"  in  four  books,  treat  of  husbandry 
in  general ;  this  poem  is  as  remarkable  for  majesty  and 
magnificence  of  diction  as  "The  Eclogues"  are  for 
sweetness  and  harmony  of  versification.  It  is  the  most 
complete,  elaborate,  and  finished  poem  in  the  Latin,  and 
perhaps  in  any  language.  By  his  genius  the  writer 
has  exhibited  himself  as  a  poet  on  topics  where  it  was 
difficult  to  appear  as  such.  Yirgil  has  imitated  the 
poem  of  Hesiod,  especially  in  his  first  and  second  book, 
but  Yirgil  is  more  natural  than  Hesiod. 

The  great  merit  of  "  The  Georgics  "  consists  in  their 
varied  digression,  interesting  episodes,  and  sublime 
bursts  of  descriptive  power,  which  are  interspersed 
throughout  the  poem.  To  quote  any  of  them  would 
be  unnecessary,  as  Yirgil  and  his  translations  are  in 


ICO  HOMAtf  CLASSICAL  LlTEttATtfttE. 

every  one's  hands.     It  will  be  sufficient  to  enumerate 
some  of  the  most  striking.     These  are : 

1.  "The  Origin  of  Agriculture,"  i.,  125. 

2.  "  The  Storm  in  Harvest,"  i.,  316. 

3.  "The  Signs  of  the  Weather,"  i.,  351. 

4.  "  The  Prodigies  at  the  Death  of  Julius  Caesar," 

i.,  466. 

5.  "The  Battle  of  Pharsalia,"  i.,  489. 

6.  "  The  Panegyric  on  Italy,"  ii.,  136. 

7.  "  The  Praises  of  a  Country  Life,"  ii.,  458. 

8.  "  The  Horse  and  the  Chariot  Kace,"  iii.,  103. 

9.  "  The  Description  of  Winter  in  Scythia,"  iii.,  349. 

10.  "  The  Murrain  of  Cattle,"  iii.,  478. 

11.  "  The  Battle  of  the  Bees,"  iv.,  67. 

12.  "The  Story  of  Aristseus,"  iv.,  317. 

13.  "  The  Legend  of  Orpheus  and  Eurydice,"  iv.,  453. 

The  subject  of  "  The  ^Eneid  "  is  the  settlement  of 
the  Trojans  in  Italy.  This  production  belongs  to  a 
nobler  class  of  poetry  than  "  The  Georgics,"  and  is 
equally  perfect  in  its  kind.  It  would  be  absurd  to 
suppose  that  Virgil  intended  to  give  instructions  to 
princes  in  the  art  of  settling  colonies,  or  to  supply  Au- 
gustus with  political  rules  for  the  government  and 
legislation  of  a  great  empire.  He  evidently  designed, 
not  merely  to  deduce  the  descent  of  Augustus  and  the 
Romans  from  ^Eneas  and  his  companions,  but,  by  cre- 
ating a  perfect  character  in  his  hero,  to  shadow  out  the 
eminent  qualities  of  his  imperial  patron;  to  recom- 
mend his  virtues  to  his  countrymen,  who  would  readily 
apply  to  him  the  amiable  portrait ;  and,  perhaps,  to 
suggest  that  he  was  the  ruler  of  the  world,  announced 


POETRY.  161 

of  old  by  the  prophecies  and  oracles  of  the  Saturnian 
land.  It  is  objected  against  Yirgil  that  he  has  imitated. 
So  he  has ;  but  what  he  has  done  was  customary  in  his 
time — this  was  allowed — and  Yirgil  has  surpassed  his 
models  and  is  original.  For  instance,  we  find  passages 
like  the  following,  copied  almost  verbatim  from  Ennius, 
and  which  in  modern  times  would  be  considered  as 
plagiarisms,  but  the  ancients  admitted  them,  without 
reluctance : 

ENNTCS.  "Est  locus  Hesperiam  qnam  mortales  perhibebant." 
VLEQEL.   "  Est  locus  Hesperiam  Graii  cognomine  dicunt." 

ENNTPS.  "Qui  coelum  versat  stellis  fulgentibus  aptum." 
VIEGIL.   "Axem  humero  torquet  stellis  fulgentibus  aptum." 

ENJTTOS.  "Hei  mihi  qualis  erat  quantum  mutatus  ab  illo." 
VIBGIL.   "Hei  mihi  qualis  erat  quantum  mutatus  ab  illo." 

But,  if  there  be  a  want  of  originality,  it  is  fully  com- 
pensated by  the  variety  of  incidents,  the  consummate 
skill  in  the  arrangement  of  them,  and  the  interest  which 
pervades  both  the  plot  and  the  incidents.  Yirgil  has 
shown  himself  especially  skilful  in  a  species  of  imita- 
tion which  consists  in  the  appropriate  choice  of  words, 
and  the  assimilation  of  the  sound  to  the  sense.  Kep- 
resenting  the  rapid  speed  of  horses,  and  the  still  more 
rapid  flight  of  time,  he  says : 

"  Quadrupedante  putrem  sonitu  quatit  tmgula  campum." 

—jEneid  viii.,  591. 

"Sed  fugit  interea,  fugit  irreparabile  tempus." 

— Georgia  iii.,  284. 

An  unusual  use  of  spondees  represents  dignity  and 
majesty : 


162  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

"  Ast  ego,  qua  divtun  incedo  regina !  "     — jflneid  i.,  50. 

A  corresponding  change  of  metre  answers  for  an  ac- 
celerated motion  : 

"  . . . .  Jamjam  lapsara  cadentique 
Imminet  assimilis  . . . .  "  — j&neid  yi.,  602. 

The  hiatus  expresses  the  effort : 

"  Ter  sunt  conati  imponere  Pelio  Ossam." 

Many  other  examples  might  be  given  of  that  which 
was,  in  Virgil,  the  natural  impulse  of  a  lively  fancy 
and  a  delicately-attuned  ear. 

Besides  the  compositions  we  have  just  spoken  of,  it 
is  supposed,  and  with  much  probability,  that  Virgil 
has  written  "  The  Culex,"  "  Ciris,"  "  Moretum,"  "  Co- 
pa,"  and  other  shorter  pieces  in  lyric,  elegiac,  and 
iambic  metres,  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  "  Ca- 
talecta."  "  The  Culex "  is  a  bucolic  poem,  relating 
the  act  of  a  shepherd  killing  a  gnat  that  disturbed  him 
in  his  sleep,  and,  as  soon  as  the  shepherd  awoke,  he 
saw  near  him  a  snake  ready  to  bite  him.  The  shep- 
herd, full  of  remorse  and  gratitude,  raised  a  tomb  to 
his  benefactor,  and  writes  the  following  epitaph  : 

"  Parve  culex,  pecndnm  custos,  tibi  tale  merenti 
Funeris  officium  vitae  pro  munere  reddit." 

"  The  Ciris  "  relates  the  legend  of  Scylla  changed  into 
a  fish,  and  her  father  Nisus  into  an  eagle.  "  The  Mo- 
retum" describes  the  commencement  of  a  day's  em- 
ployment in  the  field,  and  the  preparation  of  a  dish  of 
ollorpod/rida^  of  garden  herbs  called  moretum.  "  The 
Copa  "  represents  a  female  waiter  at  a  tavern,  begging 
for  custom  by  a  tempting  display  of  the  accommoda- 


POETRY.  163 

tions  and  comforts  prepared  for  strangers.  We  find  in 
that  elegiac  poem  such  verses  and  such  doctrine  as  the 
following  one : 

"Pereant  qui  crastina  curant 
Mors  aurem  vellens,  Vivite,  ait,  venio." 

All  these  poems  are  inferior  to  the  great  compo- 
sitions of  Virgil ;  but,  they  were  written  when  the 
poet  was  young. 

Section  V. — Didactic  and  Lyric  Poetry. 

Horatius  ELaccus  was  born  at  Yenusia,  or  Venu- 
sinum,  in  65  B.  c.  His  father  was  a  freedman,  who 
bought  a  farm  near  Yenusia,  and  Horace  lived  there 
until  he  was  eleven  or  twelve  years  old.  Then  his 


father  brought  him  to  Rome,  and  gave  him  a  good 
teacher.  Horace  studied  the  ancient  Latin  poets,  and 
acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Greek  language. 
It  is  probable  that  soon  after  he  assumed  the  toga  vi- 


164  ROMAN   CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

rilis.  He  went  then  to  Athens  to  pursue  his  studies. 
Athens  was  at  that  period  the  university  of  Rome,  and 
thither  the  Roman  youth  resorted  to  learn  language, 
art,  science,  and  philosophy. 

"  Inter  sylvas  Academi  qurorere  verum." 

During  the  civil  war  under  the  Second  Triumvirate 
he  joined  the  army  of  Brutus,  fought  at  Philippi,  and, 
as  he  relates  it  himself,  threw  away  his  shield  and  fled. 
When  he  came  back  to  Italy  he  found  that  his  patri- 
mony had  been  taken  from  him.  He  then  went  to 
Rome,  and  his  talents  soon  acquired  for  him — with  the 
friendship  of  Yirgil,  Maecenas,  and  Augustus — the  way 
to  fortune  and  honors.  At  Rome  Horace  occupied  a 
house  on  the  pleasant  and  healthful  heights  of  the  Es- 
quiline,  where  he  resided  during  the  winter  and  spring ; 
the  summer  and  autumn  he  passed  at  the  Sabine  farm, 
which  Maecenas  had  given  him  or  procured  for  him. 
Horace,  in  that  country  place,  was  a  great  favorite  with 
his  simple  neighbors,  and  there  he  found  all  that  he 
ever  wished  for,  and  even  more. 

"  Modus  agri  non  ita  rnagnus 
Hortus  ubi,  et  tecto  vicinus  jugis  aqua)  fons, 
Et  paulum  sylv®  super  his."  — Satires  vi.,  1,  bk.  2. 

Of  course  Horace  was  happy,  but  the  death  of  his 
friends  Maecenas  and  Yirgil  grieved  him  very  much. 
He  himself  died  soon  after  Maecenas,  in  his  fifty-eighth 
year. 

The  country  was  the  place  where  his  heart  abode, 
and  here  he  displayed  all  the  kindness  of  his  dispo- 
sition. The  character  of  Horace  is  clearly  developed 
in  his  writings.  He  acknowledged  no  master  in  phi- 


POETRY.  165 

losophy,  and  his  boast  was  not  a  vain  one.  He  was, 
practically,  an  Epicurean.  The  sterling  qualities  of 
Horace  were  mixed  with  baser  alloy  ;  still,  apart  from 
some  frailties  excusable  at  that  epoch,  we  recognize  in 
him  most  of  the  virtues  which  adorn  humanity  outside 
of  Faith. 

The  productions  of  Horace  consist  of  "  Odes," 
"Epodes,"  "Sabres,"  and  "Epistles."  Most  of  the 
"  Odes  "  of  Horace  are  Greek  imitations,  as  we  may 
see  by  the  following  comparisons  : 

"  Sunt  quos  curriculo."  —  Odes  i.,  3. 


vova-iv  ITTTTWV  rifted  Koi  CTT^dVOi  • 
TOVS  8  ev  TroXo^oVot?  dokdfiois  /Biord  • 
TepTrerai  Se  Kat  rt?  CTT'  olSfjf  a\iov 

val  Boa  o-<w9  Suurrelxav. 

—  PINDAB,  fragments. 

"  Jam  te  premet  mox,  fabulseque  Manes." 

—  Odes  i.,  4,  16. 

Kardavola-a  Se  /cet?',  ouSeTrore  pvafjioo-vva  <re6ev 
eWer'  ovBeTror  et?  va-repov,  ov  yap  7reS??%et9  (3p6Spwv 
TWV  etc  IIieptai<;.      ^4\\'  d(j)av^<i 
TreS'  d/juavpiov  ve/cvcov 

—  SAPPHO,  Fragments. 

"  Vides  ut  alta  stet  nive  candidum 
Soracte,  nee  jam  sustineant  onus 
SylvsB  laborantes,  geluque 
Flumina  constiterint  acnto  ?"      —  Odes  i.,  9. 

"Tei  fjiev  6  Zevs,  etc  8'  opavw  fieya? 
cov  TreTrdya&iv  8'  vSdrav  poai. 


166  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE 

Ka/3/3a\Xe  rov  ^tf^wv,  eirl  fj,ev  ridel's 
frvp,  ev  Se  /elpvais 

•  avrap 
cbv  a/wrmflet  <yvd<J>a\\ov. 

—  ALO.EI  Fragmenta. 

"Dulce  et  decorum  est  pro  patria  mori.'- 

—  Odea  iii.,  2,  13. 

Tedvdfj^vai  yap  /ca\ov  eirl  Tpofidxpurt  Trea-ovra 
av§p  cvyadbv  irepl  ff  TrarplBi  /Mtpvajievov. 

—  TTETEI  Fragmenta. 

"  Mors  et  fugacem  persequitur  virum." 

—  Odes  iii,  2,  14. 

fO  8'  aZ  Qdvaros  €Ki\€  KOL  rbv  fyvyopa'xpv. 

-  SlMONIDES. 

"  O  navis,  referunt  in  mare  to  novi 
Fluctus?    O  quid  agis?    Fortiter  occupa 
Portum.    Nonne  vides,  ut 
Nudum  remigio  latus,"  etc.       —  Odes  i.,  14. 

To  fiev  ydp  ev6ev  KVJJM  tcuXtvSerat, 
TO  8'  evdev  '  a/Lt/i-e?  S'  dv  TO  yLteo"o~oj/ 
val  orJieOa  <rvv 


Trap  fiev  yap  avr\o<;  l<TTO7reSav 


Kal  \aici&€<;  fieyd\at  tear  avrb 
Ka\da-i  8'  ayfcvpai. 

—ALCMI  Fragmenta. 

The  following  quotations  are  mere  translations  : 
"  Nube  candentes  humeros  amictus." 


—  HOMEE,  Iliad,  t,  186. 


POETRY.  167 


"  Aptum  equis  Argos."  "Apyeos  iT 

—  HOMEB,  Iliad,  /?',  287. 

"  Marines  filium  Thetidis."  Ilais  a\la<;  SenBo^. 

—  EUBIPIDES,  Androm.,  108. 

"  Mordaces  sollicitudines."          Fvtofiopovs  fteteBcovas. 

—  HESIOD,  'Epy.,  66. 

"Dis  miscent  superis."  '  'ABavdrois  e/u%0«/. 

—  PIHDAB,  Isthm.,  2,  42. 

"Loquaceslyraphse."  Aa\ov  vBap, 

"  Fulmine  caduco."  KaraifiaTr)?  icepavvos. 

—AESCHYLUS,  JV.  V.,  359. 

"  Flagitio  additis  damnura."         JT/3O9  alcr)(yv^  KCUCOV. 

—  EUBIPIDES,  She.,  102. 

"  Obliquum  meditantis  ictum."   Ao^juo  r  ata'a'ovre. 

—HOMES,  II.,  p.',  148. 

"  Testudinis  aureae."  Xpv<rea  <f>6pfjLvy%. 

—  PINDAB,  Pyth.,  &,  1. 

"  Nescios  fari  infantes."  Nrfiria  re/cva. 

—  HOMEB,  II,  fi',  311. 

"  Mens  trepidat  metu."  Aei^rl  ird\\ei. 

—SOPHOCLES,  (Ed.  Tyr. 

"Funeradensentur."  Qvrja-Kov  eiracr<rurepoi. 

—HOMEB,  II,  &,  383. 

"  Duloe  loquentem."  'ASv  <f>(ovot<ras. 

—  SAPPHO. 

We  could  continue  to  give  such  quotations,  and 
show  that  Horace  has  imitated,  and  even  almost  copied 
passages  in  Pindar,  Alcaeus,  Sappho,  Homer,  and  the 
great  tragical  writers,  especially  Euripides  and  Sopho- 
cles. "Where  Horace  is  principally  beautiful  is  in  the 


168  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

"  Odes  "  in  which  lie  describes  the  pleasures  of  a  coun- 
try life,  or  touches  on  the  beauties  of  Nature.  We  may 
give  as  an  example  the  fourth  ode  of  the  third  book, 
from  the  ninth  verse,  in  which  he  relates  an  adventure 
which  befell  him  in  his  childhood  : 

"Me  fabulos®  Vulture  in  Apulo 
Nutricis  extra  limen  Apuliro, 
Ludo  fatigatumque  somno 
Fronde  nova  puerum  palumbes 

"  Texere  (mirura  quod  foret  omnibus, 
Quicumque  celsse  nidum  Acherontiae, 
Saltusque  Bantinos,  et  arvum 
Pingue  tenent  humilis  Ferenti), 

"  Ut  tuto  ab  atris  corpore  viperis 
Dormirem  et  ursis ;  ut  premerer  sacra 
Laurosque  collataque  myrto 
Non  sine  Dis  animosus  infans." 

"  The  Epodes  "  of  Horace  breathe  the  spirit  of  the 
satirist  rather  than  of  the  lyric  poet ;  and,  surely,  like 
his  "  Satires,"  they  were  written  in  his  years  of  adver- 
sity. It  is  to  be  noticed  that  "  The  Epodes  "  were  pub- 
lished soon  after  "  The  Satires,"  and,  naturally,  Horace 
could  not  have  rid  himself  entirely  of  the  bitter  spirit 
which  animated  him  when  he  wrote  his  satiric  com- 
positions. It  would,  perhaps,  be  better  to  call  "  The 
Satires  "  of  Horace  sermons ;  they  are,  in  fact,  desul- 
tory didactic  essays,  sketching  boldly  and  good-humor- 
edly  a  picture  of  Roman  social  life  with  its  vices  and 
follies. 

"  The  Epistles  "  of  Horace  do  not  differ  from  "  The 
Satires,"  except  that  in  the  latter  composition  the  poet 
speaks,  as  it  were,  ex  catftedra,  while  in  "  The  Epistles  " 


PROSE-ELOQUENCE.  169 

he  discourses  with  the  freedom  with  which  he  would 
converse  with  an  intimate  friend.  The  epistle  called 
"  Ars  Poetica,  or  Epistle  to  the  Pisos,"  is  not  a  treatise 
on  poetry,  but  simply  an  outline  of  the  history  of  the 
Greek  drama,  and  the  principles  of  criticism  applicable 
to  it.  It  is  a  very  good  composition.  The  versification 
of  "  The  Epistles  "  is  more  smooth  than  that  of  "  The 
Satires,"  but  only  in  proportion  to  the  superior  neat- 
ness of  the  style  generally. 

To  resume,  the  qualities  in  which  Horace  excels  are 
his  strong  good  sense,  his  clear  judgment,  and  the 
purity  of  his  taste,  and  it  is  especially  in  his  "  Odes  " 
that  his  genius  as  a  poet  is  displayed.  They  have 
never  been  equalled  in  beauty  of  sentiment,  grace- 
fulness of  language,  and  the  melody  of  versification. 
They  comprehend  every  variety  of  subject  suitable  to 
the  lyric  muse.  ISTot  only  do  they  evince  a  complete 
mastery  over  the  Greek  metres,  but  also  show  that 
Horace  was  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Greek 
poetry,  and  had  profoundly  studied  Greek  literature, 
especially  the  writings  of  Pindar  and  the  lyric  poets. 


CHAPTER  II. 

PEOSE ELOQUENCE. 


M.  Tullius  Cicero  was  born  at  Arpinum,  on  the  same 

day  as  Pompey  the  Great,  in  106.   His  father  belonged 

to  a  patrician  family.     When  he  was  fourteen  years 

old  he  went  to  Rome  with  his  brother  Quintus,  and 

8 


170  ROMAN   CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

both  had  very  good  masters,  and,  among  them  the 
Greek  poet  Archias.  When  he  was  quite  young  Cicero 
showed  taste  for  poetry  and  wrote  verses,  and  even  ob- 
tained on  that  account  the  praises  of  Harms.  At  six- 
teen he  took  the  toga,  and  attended  the  forum  regu- 
larly, and  he  studied  jurisprudence.  He  served  very 


little  in  the  army,  but  made  a  campaign  under  the 
father  of  Pompey  the  Great.  He  then  studied  philos- 
ophy, and  embraced  the  doctrine  of  Plato ;  at  twenty- 
five  he  pleaded  his  first  cause,  and  in  the  following  year 
defended  Eoscius,  who  had  been  accused  of  parricide 
by  a  favorite  of  Sylla.  In  order  to  strengthen  his 
constitution  Cicero  then  travelled  in  Greece  and  in 
Asia,  and,  after  a  few  years,  came  back  to  Rome  with 
invigorated  health,  and  found  Hortensius  at  the  zenith 
of  his  glory. 

He  was  elected  quaestor  and  sent  to  Sicily  at  a  time 


PROSE— ELOQUENCE.  171 

when  the  metropolis  was  suffering  from  a  great  scarcity 
of  grain ;  he  was  then  thirty  years  old,  and  owed  to  his 
eloquence  that  rapid  elevation.  Cicero  discharged  his 
office  nobly. 

On  his  return  home  he  accused  Yerres,  and  pro- 
nounced the  two  orations,  "  In  Yerrem  de  Signis " 
and  "  In  Yerrem  de  Suppliciis,"  showing  that  during 
his  administration  Yerres  had  been  cruel  and  dis- 
honest, and  he  had  him  condemned.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  (69),  that  is,  five  years  after  his  election  as  a 
quaestor,  and  when  his  time  of  office  was  over,  he  was 
appointed  curule-aedile,  and  behaved  himself  wisely; 
he  found  that  he  could  satisfy  the  people  without  in- 
volving himself  in  the  extravagant  expenses  which  were 
customary  among  his  predecessors. 

In  67  he  obtained  the  prsetorship,  and,  during  that 
time  he  made  his  speech,  "  Pro  Lege  Manilia,"  in  favor 
of  Poinpey,  who  then  obtained  the  command  of  the 
war  against  Mithridates.  His  next  ambition  was  the 
consulship,  which  he  obtained  with  Antony,  and  he 
signalized  himself  during  that  time  by  crushing  the 
conspiracy  of  Catiline,  on  account  of  which  circum- 
stance he  was  hailed  the  father  of  his  country.  Having 
incurred  the  enmity  of  Clodius,  who  accused  him  of 
having  acted  as  a  dictator  in  regard  to  the  execution 
of  the  accomplices  of  Catiline,  Cicero  went  into  exile 
voluntarily,  and  showed  in  his  absence  that  a  vain  man 
is  never  a  man  of  energy. 

In  the  year  49  he  returned  to  Rome,  and,  during  the 
struggle  between  Caesar  and  Pompey,  tried  to  remain 
neutral,  but  at  length  joined  Pompey,  and  after  the 
defeat  of  this  general  he  was  pardoned  by  Caesar.  At 


172  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

that  time  Cicero  had  domestic  afflictions,  and  he  was 
twice  divorced.  After  the  assassination  of  Caesar  he 
went  to  Greece,  but  came  back  immediately  to  Eome. 
It  was  the  time  when  the  struggle  was  going  on  be- 
tween Octavius  and  Antony.  For  a  while  Antony 
fled,  and  Cicero  pronounced  his  fourteen  "  Philippics  " 
against  him ;  but  Antony  came  back,  and  formed  a 
triumvirate  with  Octavius  and  Lepidus.  Lists  of  pro- 
scription were  formed,  and  Cicero  was  on  the  list  of 
Antony.  He  tried  to  flee,'  but  the  state  of  the  weather 
did  not  allow  him  to  embark ;  he  was  taken,  and  died 
nobly. 

Antiquity  may  be  challenged  to  produce  an  indi- 
vidual so  virtuous  and  so  perfectly  amiable  as  Cicero. 
But  the  great  orator  was  irresolute,  timid,  and  incon- 
sistent ;  he  was  continually  vacillating  from  one  extreme 
to  the  other,  always  too  confident  or  too  dejected,  and 
incorrigibly  vain  of  success.  The  orations  he  is  known 
to  have  composed  amount  to  about  eighty,  of  which 
fifty-nine,  either  entire  or  in  part,  are  preserved. 

Of  the  rhetorical  works  of  Cicero,  the  most  admired 
and  finished  is  the  dialogue  "De  Oratore."  In  the 
"  Oratoriae  Partitiones "  the  subject  is  the  art  of  ar- 
ranging and  distributing  the  parts  of  an  oration,  so  as 
to  adapt  them  in  the  best  manner  to  their  end. 

In  the  dialogue  "  Brutus  "  he  gives  a  short  account 
of  all  who  had  ever  been  remarkable  in  Greece  or  Home 
for  eloquence,  down  to  his  own  time.  "  The  Topica  " 
is  a  compendium  of  "  The  Topica"  of  Aristotle.  The 
treatise  "  De  Optimo  Genere  Oratorum  "  was  originally 
intended  as  a  preface  to  the  translation  of  the  discourse 
of  Demosthenes,  "  Pro  Corona."  In  all  his  works  on 


PROSE— ELOQUENCE.  173 

rhetoric  he  accepts  the  principles  of  Aristotle,  and  takes 
his  divisions.  The  subject  is  considered  in  three  dis- 
tinct lights,  with  reference  to  the  case,  the  speaker,  and 
the  speech :  1.  The  case,  as  respects  its  nature,  is  defi- 
nite or  indefinite ;  with  reference  to  the  hearer,  it  13 
judicial,  deliberative,  or  descriptive;  as  regards  the 
opponent,  the  division  is  fourfold  according  as  the  fact, 
its  nature,  its  quality,  or  its  propriety,  is  called  in 
question.  2.  The  art  of  the  speaker  is  directed  to  five 
points;  the  discovery  of  persuasives  (whether  ethical, 
pathetical,  or  argumentative),  arrangement,  diction, 
memory,  and  delivery.  3.  The  speech  itself  consists 
of  six  parts ;  introduction  (exordium),  proposition,  di- 
vision, proof,  refutation,  and  conclusion,  or  peroration. 
The  oration  in  which  Cicero  illustrates  this  teaching, 
by  example,  is  the  discourse  "  Pro  Milone." 

Cicero's  laudatory  orations  are  among  his  happiest 
efforts.  The  best  among  these  orations  are:  "Pro 
Lege  Manilia,"  "  Pro  Marcello,"  "  Pro  Ligario,"  "  Pro 
Archia,"  and  the  ninth  "  Philippic,"  which  is  in  praise 
of  Servius  Sulpicius.  But  it  is  in  judicial  eloquence, 
especially  on  subjects  of  a  lively  cast,  that  his  talents 
are  displayed  to  the  best  advantage,  as  in  the  speeches 
"Pro  Cselio,"  and  "Murena,"  and  against  Csecilius 
and  Catiline.  The  character  which  he  draws  of  Cati- 
line (or  "  Pro  Cs8lio  "  )  is  perfect. 

Among  many  excellences  possessed  by  Cicero,  the 
greatest  is  the  suitableness  of  his  diction  to  the  genius 
of  the  Latin  tongue.  He  has  been  accused  of  being 
too  florid,  too  brilliant,  too  Asiatic,  and  opposed  to  the 
sublime  simplicity  of  the  Greek  writers.  But  we  must 
observe  that  the  Latin  language  is  weak  comparatively, 


174  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

scanty  and  inharmonious,  and  requires  much  skill  to 
render  it  expressive  and  graceful.  Simplicity  in  Latin 
is  scarcely  inseparable  from  baldness.  Latin  is  not  a 
philosophical  language.  In  that  respect  Demosthenes, 
to  whom  Cicero  may  be  compared,  had  a  great  advan- 
tage over  the  Latin  orator.  The  Greek  language,  on 
account  of  its  richness,  allowed  Demosthenes  to  be 
more  philosophical,  and  consequently  more  solid  than 
Cicero,  in  his  speeches ;  besides  this  consideration,  the 
public  of  Athens  was  composed  quite  differently  from 
the  public  assembled  in  the  Roman  Forum,  in  regard 
to  knowledge  and  literary  culture. 

Cicero  rather  made  a  language  than  a  style,  yet  not 
so  much  by  the  invention  as  by  the  combination  of 
words.  This  is  that  "copia  dicendi"  which  gained 
Cicero  the  high  testimony  of  Caesar  to  his  inventive 
power.  In  regard  to  his  philosophical  writings,  we 
have  "De  Legibus,"  a  treatise  on  jurisprudence,  of 
which  three  books  only  remain  ;  "  De  Finibus  Bonorum 
et  Malorum,"  being  a  discussion  of  the  opinion  of  an- 
tiquity on  that  question ;  the  treatise  "  Academics 
Qusestiones,"  relates  the  doctrine  of  the  Academy ; 
the  "  Tusculanse  Qusestiones "  is  a  sort  of  treatise  on 
ethics;  "The  Paradoxa"  contains  the  discussion  of 
six  paradoxes  of  the  Stoics.  Then  we  have  a  treatise 
on  mythology,  "  De  Natura  Deorum."  The  writings 
"DeOfficiis,"  "DeSenectute,"  and  "De  Amicitia,"  are 
three  good  treatises  on  moral  duties  in  the  different  cir- 
cumstances of  life.  The  first  one  was  written  for  his  son. 
We  might  add  to  this  list  a  sort  of  sketch  on  astronomy, 
"  Somnium  Scipionis,"  and  a  part  of  a  treatise — "  De 
Eepublica  " — of  which  the  object  is  very  patriotic. 


PROSE— ELOQUENCE.  175 

As  a  philosopher  Cicero  belongs  to  the  old  Acad- 
emy. His  merit  as  a  philosophical  writer  lies  in  his 
luminous  and  popular  exposition  of  the  leading  prin- 
ciples of  the  ancient  schools.  He  wrote  in  the  form 
of  dialogues.  Little  remains  of  his  historical  and  poet- 
ical works,  and  no  regret  can  be  felt  for  it ;  from  the 
fragments  which  are  extant,  we  may  judge  that  Cicero 
was  not  a  poet. 

We  have  about  one  thousand  "  Epistles,"  divided 
into  thirty-six  books,  sixteen  of  which  are  addressed  to 
Atticus,  three  to  his  brother  Quintus,  one  to  Brutus, 
and  sixteen  to  his  different  friends.  These  letters 
throw  a  great  light  on  the  history  of  the  time,  and  give 
a  full  insight  into  the  private  character  of  Cicero  him- 
self, who  was  accustomed  at  all  times  to  unbosom  his 
thoughts  most  freely  to  his  friends. 

After  Cicero  we  may  give  the  following  names : 

Asinius  Pollio. — He  was  born  at  Kome,  in  the  year 
76,  and  was  a  very  distinguished  warrior,  a  companion 
of  Caesar  and  Anthony,  and  for  a  time  the  governor  of 
Gallia  Transpadana.  He  was  also  a  writer  and  an 
orator,  but  none  of  his  writings  remain.  He  had  a 
satirical  spirit,  and  was  often  unjust  in  his  criticisms. 
He  was  the  first  one  who  established  a  public  library, 
and  his  example  was  soon  followed.  JEmilius  Paulus, 
Lucullus,  Sulla,  and  Caesar,  had  already  private  libra- 
ries, and  Pollio  expended  the  spoils  of  Dalmatia  in 
founding  a  temple  to  Liberty,  and  furnishing  it  with  a 
library.  All  the  emperors,  from  Augustus  down  to 
Hadrian,  established  or  enlarged  similar  institutions. 
Pollio  died  at  the  age  of  eighty. 

Terentius  Varro  was  born  at  Keate,  a  Sabine  town, 


176  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

situated  in  the  Tempe  of  Italy,  in  116  B.  o.  He  was  also 
a  warrior,  but  especially  a  very  learned  man.  He  was 
the  librarian  of  Caesar.  No  Koman  author  wrote  so 
much  as  he  did,  and  no  one  read  so  much,  except  Pliny 
the  Elder.  Yarro  wrote  five  hundred  books,  but  one 
only,  and  some  fragments  of  another,  remain.  The 
first  is  "  De  Re  Rustica,"  and  the  other,  "  De  Lingua 
Latina."  What  is  to  be  regretted  the  more  is  the  loss 
of  his  book  "  Antiquitates  Rerum  Humanarum,  et  An- 
tiquitates Rerum  Divinarum."  The  two  treatises,  form- 
ing one  work,  were  very  useful  to  St.  Augustine  for  the 
composition  of  his  work  "  De  Civitate  Dei."  Yarro 
composed  also  "  Satires,"  partly  in  prose  and  partly  in 
verse,  consisting  of  moral  essays  and  dialogues.  We 
have  eighteen  short  epigrams,  of  no  great  merit,  of  his 
poems.  Yarro  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine  years. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PROSE — HISTORY. 

IN  historical  composition  alone  can  the  Romans  lay 
claim  to  originality ;  and,  in  their  historical  literature 
especially,  is  exhibited  a  faithful  transcript  of  their 
mind  and  character.  We  have  in  the  Augustan  age 
five  names  which  are  very  illustrious,  and  we  ought  not 
to  pass  over  without  mention  the  names  of — 

L.  Lncceius,  the  friend  and  correspondent  of  Cicero. 
His  right  to  be  called  an  historian  is  founded  on  his 
having  commenced  a  history  of  the  social  and  civil  wars, 
but  it  was  never  completed  and  published. 


PBOSE— HISTORY.  177 

I.  Licinius  Lucullus  was  the  illustrious  but  luxurious 
conqueror  of  Mithridates.  He  devoted  his  leisure  to 
the  composition  of  history,  and  wrote  in  Greek  a  his- 
tory of  the  Marsian  War.  He  was  a  friend  of  Cicero, 
and  the  great  orator  inscribed  with  his  name  one  of 
his  books,  namely,  the  fourth  book  of  his  "  Academic 
Questions,"  in  which  he  made  Lucullus  define  the 
philosophical  opinions  of  the  old  Academy. 

The  five  great  names  composing  the  catalogue  of 
Roman  historians,  during  the  Augustan  period,  are : 

Cornelius  Nepos,  who  lived  in  the  time  of  Catullus, 
was  born  near  Verona,  and  was  also  a  friend  of  Cicero. 
Nothing  particular  is  known  about  his  life.  All  his 
works,  which  are  mentioned  by  the  ancients,  are  lost. 
They  were  :  1.  Three  books  of  "  Chronicles,"  being  a 
short  abridgment  of  universal  history ;  2.  Five  books 
of  "  Anecdotes ; "  3.  "  The  Life  of  Cicero,"  including  a 
collection  of  letters  addressed  to  him ;  4.  "  De  Histo- 
ricis,"  or  "  Memoirs  of  Historians."  The  work  now  ex- 
tant is  entitled  "  The  Lives  of  Eminent  Generals,"  in 
which  Cornelius  gives  biographies  of  twenty  generals, 
and  short  accounts  of  some  celebrated  monarchs.  Al- 
though Cornelius  wrote  conscientiously,  still  Pliny  ac- 
cuses him  of  being  inaccurate,  and  modern  critics  have 
found  many  mistakes  and  inconsistencies  in  almost 
every  one  of  his  biographies.  As  examples:  In  the 
life  of  Miltiades,  he  confounds  Miltiades  the  son  of 
Cimon,  with  Miltiades  the  son  of  Cypselus  ;  in  the  life 
of  Pausanius  he  confounds  Darius  and  Xerxes ;  in  the 
same  biography  he  confounds  the  victory  of  Mycale, 
gained  by  Xanthippus,  with  the  naval  battle  gained  by 
Cimon,  nine  years  after,  near  the  river  Eurymedon. 


178  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

In  the  third  chapter  of  the  life  of  Lysander,  Nepos  con- 
founds two  expeditions  of  this  general  into  Asia,  be- 
tween which  there  elapsed  an  interval  of  seven  years. 
In  the  second  chapter  of  the  life  of  Chabrias,  utter  con- 
fusion prevails.  At  the  period  when  Nepos  makes 
Agesilaus  to  have  gone  on  his  expedition  into  Egypt, 
this  monarch  was  busily  occupied  in  Boeotia ;  and  Ne- 
pos  himself,  in  his  life  of  Agesilaus,  makes  no  mention 
of  this  expedition.  The  king  of  Egypt,  who  was  as- 
sisted by  Chabrias,  was  Tachos  and  not  Nectanabis. 
In  the  life  of  Hannibal,  Cornelius  makes  that  general 
march  to  Eome  directly,  while  it  was  not  after  the  vic- 
tory at  Cannae,  but  after  having  permitted  the  spirit 
of  his  army  to  become  corrupted  in  Campania,  that 
Hannibal  directed  his  march  toward  Rome.  Many 
other  mistakes  could  be  pointed  out.  In  regard  to  the 
style  and  composition,  the  writings  of  Nepos  are  good. 
C.  Julius  Csesar  was  born  in  100  B.  o.,  of  a  family  of 
the  Julian  gens,  one  of  the  oldest  among  the  patrician 
families  of  Rome.  He  became  a  soldier  in  the  nine- 
teenth year  of  his  age,  and  his  works  display  all  the 
best  qualities  which  are  fostered  by  military  education 
— frankness,  simplicity,  and  brevity.  Caesar  had  much 
taste  for  eloquence,  and  he  studied  rhetoric  and  oratory 
under  a  very  able  teacher,  Apollonius  Melos,  who  was 
not  only  a  teacher  of  rhetoric  but  also  an  able  and  elo- 
quent pleader  in  the  courts  of  law.  Caesar  showed  his 
talent  for  eloquence  in  several  cases,  but  especially  in 
Catiline's  conspiracy,  when,  without  reason,  he  was  sus- 
pected of  having  been  an  accomplice,  and  had  to  de- 
fend himself.  In  the  year  63  he  was  appointed  pontifex 
maximus,  and  he  examined  diligently  into  the  history 


PROSE— HISTORY.  179 

and  nature  of  the  Boman  belief  of  the  Auguri.  He 
confined  his  remarks  in  a  work,  consisting  of  at  least 
sixteen  books,  called  "  Libri  Auspiciorum,"  which  is 
lost.  He  studied  astronomy,  in  order  to  fit  himself  for 
the  discharge  of  his  office,  and  even  wrote  a  book,  "  De 


JTJLTOS  CJ58AB. 


Astris."  This  led  him  to  the  reform  of  the  calendar. 
Then  Caesar  commenced  his  military  career,  during 
which  he  composed  his  "Commentaries,"  the  only 
work  extant  from  him.  He  wrote  with  his  own  hand 
seven  books,  containing  the  history  of  the  seven  years 
of  the  Gallic  War;  the  eighth  book  was  also  com- 


180  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

menced  bj  him,  and  was  finished  by  Hirtius,  his  most 
faithful  companion  and  secretary.  Three  other  books, 
also  written  by  Caesar,  carry  the  history  of  the  Civil 
War  down  to  the  Alexandrine. 

These  memoirs  are  exactly  what  they  profess  to  be, 
and  are  written  in  the  most  appropriate  style.  They 
are  sketches  taken  on  the  spot,  in  the  midst  of  the  ac- 
tion, while  the  mind  is  full ;  their  elegance  and  polish 
show  the  least  labored  efforts  of  a  refined  and  educated 
taste.  The  "  Commentaries "  are  not  so  much  a  his- 
tory as  the  materials  for  it.  The  calmness  and  equa- 
bility of  Caesar's  character  pervade  his  writings ;  but 
these  do  not,  for  that  reason,  lack  energy  and  life. 
Cicero  says  that  the  simple  beauty  of  Caesar's  language 
is  statuesque  rather  than  picturesque.  The  "Com- 
mentaries "  have  been  sometimes  compared  to  Xeno- 
phon's  writings;  both  are  eminently  simple  and  unaf- 
fected, but  there  the  parallel  ends.  The  first  is  stern, 
the  second  is  sweet,  and  both  are  entirely  different. 

Caesar  had  written  other  works,  which  are  lost :  1. 
"  The  Anticatones,"  two  books  of  answers  to  Cicero's 
panegyric  on  Cato ;  2.  "  The  Analogia,"  a  sort  of 
grammar  of  the  Latin  tongue,  highly  praised  by  Cicero ; 
and,  3.  His  "  Apophthegmata,"  a  collection  of  wise  say- 
ings. He  attempted  to  write  poetry,  and  we  know  of 
4.  His  "  (Edipus,"  but  we  have  the  title  only  of  this 
composition ;  5.  "  Iter,"  an  account  of  his  march  into 
Spain.  We  have  spoken  already  of  his  astronomical 
poem.  6.  Some  "  Epigrams,"  of  which  three  are  ex- 
tant, although  their  authenticity  is  somewhat  doubtful. 

C.  SaJlustius  Crispus,  a  native  of  Amiternum,  in  the 
territory  of  the  Sabines,  where  he  was  born  in  85.  He 


PROSE— HISTORY.  181 

was  a  member  of  a  plebeian  family,  but  he  soon  raised 
himself  to  the  highest  offices  of  the  state.  Sallust  was 
sent  away  from  the  senate ;  why,  it  is  doubtful.  The 
character  of  Sallust  has  been  greatly  attacked  both  in 
regard  to  morality  and  honesty.  As  to  the  first  point, 
it  may  be  said  that  he  was  not  any  better  than  his  con- 
temporaries— the  age  was  one  of  monstrous  corruption 
— but  sometimes  his  name  has  been  mistaken  for  his 
nephew's,  who  bore  the  same,  and  was  a  monster  of 


lust.  In  regard  to  his  honesty,  it  is  to  be  confessed 
that  he  acquired  immense  wealth  in  Numidia,  where 
he  remained  for  some  time,  having  been  appointed  a 
governor  of  that  province  by  Caesar,  after  the  defeat 
of  the  party  of  Pompey.  That  wealth,  so  ill-gotten, 
was  used  at  Home  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  greatest 
luxury.  The  gardens  of  the  Quirinal,  which  bore  the 
name  of  Sallust,  were  celebrated  for  their  beauty,  and 
the  historian,  beneath  their  alleys  and  porticos,  sur- 


182  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

rounded  by  the  choicest  works  of  art,  avoided  the 
tumultuous  scenes  of  civil  war  which  were  rending  the 
state  at  that  time. 

We  have  from  Sallust  "  The  History  of  the  Con- 
spiracy of  Catiline,"  and  of  the  war  against  Jugurtha. 
Sallust  evidently  regarded  fine  style  as  one  of  the  chief 
merits  of  an  historical  work.  His  style  was  carefully 
formed  on  that  of  Thucydides.  He  wonderfully  suc- 
ceeded in  imitating  the  vigor  and  conciseness  of  the 
Greek  historian — we  mean  that  he  imitated  the  brev- 
ity of  ideas,  rather  than  of  language,  for  Thucydides 
is  sometimes  very  diffuse ;  but  Sallust  is  abrupt  and 
sententious,  and  he  carried  this  brevity  to  a  vicious 
excess.  The  want  of  copulatives  produces  a  monot- 
onous effect. 

In  the  style  of  Sallust  there  is  too  much  appearance 
of  study,  and  a  want  of  ease,  which  is  the  effect  of  art. 
Sallust  is  a  master  in  drawing  his  characters,  five  or  six 
of  which  are  perfect.  These  are  Cato,  Csesar,  Catiline, 
Jugurtha,  Marius,  and  Sylla.  Sallust  sprinkles  his 
narrative  with  reflections,  which  are  all  very  just,  and 
merit  for  him  the  appellation  of  the  Father  of  Philo- 
sophic History  in  Italy.  The  discursive  nature  and 
inordinate  length  of  his  introductions  have  been  ob- 
jected to,  and  with  reason. 

Besides  these  two  histories,  Sallust  wrote  a  general 
history  of  the  republic — "  Historia  Rerum  in  Republics 
Romana  gestarum  " — of  which  we  have  many,  but  too 
short,  fragments.  The  scholiasts  and  grammarians 
have  collected  as  many  as  seven  hundred  of  them ;  the 
only  one  of  any  length  is  the  description  of  a  splen- 
did entertainment  given  to  Metellus,  on  his  return, 


PROSE— HISTORY.  183 

after  a  year's  absence,  from  his  government  of  Far- 
ther Spain. 

Trogns  Pompems  was  a  voluminous  historian  of  the 
Augustan  age,  whose  father  was  private  secretary  to 
Julius  Csesar.  His  work  was  of  such  an  extent  that  it 
has  been  called  by  Justinus  a  universal  history ;  but  the 
title  was  "  Historise  Philippicse,"  the  object  of  which 
was  evidently  the  history  of  the  Macedonian  monarchy. 
The  work  consists  of  forty-four  books,  the  fragments 
of  which  we  have,  gathered  into  eight  books  by  Jus- 
tinus. They  contain  "  The  History  of  Alexander,"  un- 
connected, but  interesting  and  well  written. 

T,  Living  Patavinus  was  born  in  59,  at  Padua  (Pa- 
tavinum).  Although  it  is  generally  believed  that  Padua 
had  the  honor  of  being  the  birthplace  of  Livy,  an  epi- 
gram of  Martial  (book  i.,  52)  has  thrown  some  doubt 
upon  the  fact.  Livy  came  to  Rome  very  early;  he 
wrote  some  poetry,  and  gained  the  favor  of  Augustus, 
who  lodged  him  in  his  own  palace.  There  he  could 
consult  for  and  prepare  his  work,  the  composition  of 
which  occupied  him  during  twenty  years.  He  soon 
acquired  a  great  reputation.  Late  in  life  he  returned 
to  Patavinum,  where  he  died  in  the  year  17  after  Christ, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-six  years. 

Some  writer  has  said,  and  we  think  that  he  was 
right,  that  Livy  was  the  Homer  of  the  Roman  people, 
on  account  of  the  epic  color  with  which  he  has  painted 
his  characters,  while  the  charm  of  his  narrative  makes 
him  the  Herodotus  of  Roman  historians.  The  time 
when  Livy  was  living  was  the  most  favorable  for  writ- 
ing history.  The  great  work  of  the  formation  of  the 
Roman  Empire  was  done.  Livy  could,  owing  to  the 


184  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

peace  which  reigned  for  some  time,  consider  and  study 
that  grand  construction  and  describe  it. 

Livy  published  his  work  by  portions;  it  compre- 
hended the  whole  history  of  Rome  from  its  foundation 
to  the  death  of  Drusus,  the  brother  of  Tiberius,  9  B.  o. 
It  consisted  of  one  hundred  and  forty-two  books,  but 
only  thirty-five  are  extant,  with  some  fragments  of  the 
others.  The  first  ten  books,  which  we  have,  carry  the 
history  of  Eome,  from  the  arrival  of  JEneas  in  Italy, 
to  the  year  293  B.  c.,  a  few  years  before  the  war  with 
Pyrrhus.  There  we  have  an  hiatus  of  the  following  ten 
books.  The  narrative  recommences  at  the  twenty-first 
book,  with  the  second  Punic  War,  218  B.  o.  We  have 
there  the  whole  history  of  Hannibal,  and  consequently 
the  second  Punic  War,  and  the  beginning  of  the  third. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  the  best  portion  of  Livy's 
history  has  perished,  especially  the  part  in  connection 
with  the  time  when  he  lived. 

The  abridgments  of  the  books  lost  were  collect- 
ed by  a  learned  German — Freinshemius — in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  This  great  Latinist,  while  imitating 
the  style  of  Livy  quite  perfectly,  reestablished  the 
whole  work,  with  the  best  documents  which  he  could 
find. 

Tacitus  and  Seneca  speak  in  the  highest  terms  of 
the  beauty  of  Livy's  style,  and  the  fidelity  of  his  nar- 
rative. We  may  admit  that  his  style  is  eloquent,  his 
narrative  clear,  and  his  power  of  description  great  and 
striking.  Some  of  his  narratives  are  really  perfect, 
like  the  one  of  the  passage  of  the  Alps  by  Hannibal. 
In  regard  to  his  fidelity,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  he 
was  deficient  in  the  first  and  most  important  requisites 


PROSE— HISTORY.  185 

of  a  faithful  historian — a  love  of  truth,  diligence  and 
care  in  consulting  authorities,  and  a  patient  examina- 
tion of  conflicting  testimonies.  Livy  has  made  very 
little  use  of  the  documents  and  inscriptions  which 
were  within  his  reach,  such  as  the  brazen  column  in 
the  Temple  of  the  Aventine  Diana,  on  which  was  en- 
graven the  treaty  of  Servius  Tullius  with  the  Latins, 
with  the  names  of  the  tribes  which  were  members  of 
the  league;  the  treaty  of  Tarquinius  Superbus  with 
Gabii,  written  on  a  bull's  hide  and  preserved  in  the 
Temple  of  Dius  Fidius,  etc. 

Livy  does  not  found  his  narrative  upon  contempo- 
rary records,  but  avowedly  draws  his  materials  from 
the  works  of  earlier  annalists.  As  long  as  his  guides 
agree  in  the  main  points  of  their  history,  he  follows 
them ;  but,  when  they  openly  contradict  each  other, 
then  he  confesses  the  difficulty  and  acknowledges  the 
uncertainty  of  the  history  of  the  first  centuries  of  the 
city,  and  passes  over  these  difficulties  without  a  special 
notice.  There  are  several  proofs  that  he  wrote  care- 
lessly and  hastily.  He  sometimes  repeats  himself,  and 
sometimes  contradicts  himself.  He  is  not  so  much 
an  historian  as  a  poet.  The  love  of  Livy  for  his 
country  may  be  noticed  in  the  fact  that  never,  in  his 
history,  have  the  Romans  been  defeated  by  their  op- 
ponents ! 

Asinius  Pollio  has  accused  Livy  of  being  guilty  in 
his  writings  of  patavinity,  and  Quintilian  agrees,  it 
seems,  with  Pollio.  But,  in  what  does  this  defect 
lie  ?  Pollio  says  that  there  is  something  in  Livy's  ex- 
pressions which  bespeaks  a  citizen  of  Patavium,  and 
which  would  not  appear  in  the  style  of  a  native  of 


186  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

Kome.  According  to  Quintilian,  it  applies  entirely  to 
provincial  phrases  and  words  not  altogether  consonant 
to  the  refined  urbanity  of  Rome,  which  could  not  so 
easily  be  communicated  to  strangers  as  the  freedom 
of  the  city. 

The  opinion  of  Beni,  who  supposes  that — because 
the  Patavians  were  all  staunch  republicans — the  pata- 
wnity  of  I^ivy  must  have  consisted  in  his  political  par- 
tiality to  the  faction  of  Pompey ;  and  the  one  of  Bu- 
dseus,  who  thinks  that  Livy's  pata/oinity  lay  in  his 
enmity  to  the  Gauls,  who  were  the  natural  foes  of  the 
Patavians,  are  without  foundation. 

Some,  at  length,  like  Morhof  and  Lauren  tius  Pig- 
norius,  pretend  that  this  patavinify  consists  in  a  cer- 
tain orthography  peculiar  to  the  Patavians — as  sibe 
for  sibi,  quase  for  quasi — and  in  the  diifuseness  of 
style  to  which  the  Patavians,  both  ancient  and  mod- 
ern, have  been  addicted  in  all  their  compositions.  It 
is,  at  any  rate,  a  very  small  matter. 

M.  Vitrnvins  Pollio. — We  will  only  mention  the  work 
of  this  writer.  It  is  a  complete  treatise  on  architect- 
ure, consisting  of  ten  books.  The  subject  is  treated 
systematically  and  in  an  orderly  style.  Being  a  tech- 
nical subject,  it  necessitated  the  introduction  of  new 
terms.  There  is  in  it  much  poverty  of  language,  and 
some  of  the  paraphrases  are  awkward,  and  the  phrase- 
ology generally  obscure.  Still,  upon  the  whole,  the 
language  of  Vitruvius  is  vigorous,  his  descriptions  bold, 
and  the  style  generally  correct,  that  is,  grammatical. 

Others  wrote  on  architecture,  but  added  nothing  to 
the  stock  of  their  country's  literature.  So  it  was  with 
the  grammarians  of  the  Augustan  age,  and  consequently 


PROSE — HISTORY.  187 

they  may  be  passed  over  with  the  simple  mention  of 
their  names.  The  most  conspicuous  were  :  Attains 
Philologus,  Staberius  Eros,  Q,.  Caecilius  Epirota,  C.  Julius 
Hyginus,  the  great  friend  of  Ovid,  Verrius  Flaccus,  Q,. 
Cornificius,  and  P.  Nigidius  Figulus,  an  orator  and  phi- 
losopher as  well  as  grammarian. 


BOOK   III. 

THE    SILVER   AGE. 


WITH  the  death  of  Augustus  commences  the  decline 
of  Eoman  literature,  and  only  three  illustrious  names 
— Phaedrus,  Persius,  and  Lucian — rescue  the  first  year 
of  this  period  from  the  charge  of  a  corrupt  and  vitiated 
taste.  After  several  years  of  tyranny,  a  more  liberal 
system  of  administration,  under  Yespasian,  will  allow 
Juvenal  and  Tacitus  to  resume  the  language  of  the  old 
Roman  independence.  The  characteristic  of  the  first 
literature  of  this  epoch  was  declamation  and  rhetoric, 
and  this  false  taste,  which  destroys  true  natural  elo- 
quence, affected  poetry  as  well  as  prose.  Even  in  the 
tragedies  which  are  ascribed  to  Seneca,  we  have  but 
theatrical  declamations. 


CHAPTER  I. 

POETRY. 

Section  L— Fables. 


Phsedrus  was  born  in  Thracia,  and  was  brought  to 
Rome,  with  other  captives,  after  a  victory  gained  by 
Octavius,  the  father  of  Augustus,  over  some  Thracian 


POETRY.  189 

clans.  Phcedrus  was  then  an  infant,  and  he  was  reared 
up  among  the  slaves  of  Augustus.  He  calls  himself  a 
freedman  of  Augustus — "  Augusti  libertus."  In  regard 
to  the  place  of  his  birth  we  know  it  by  Phsedrus  him- 
self, who,  in  the  prologue  of  his  third  book,  says : 

"Ego  quern  Pierio  mater  enixa  est  jugo." 
And  again  he  adds : 

"Ego  literate  qui  sum  proprior  Grseciffl, 
Our  somno  inert!  deseram  patriaa  decus ; 
Threissa  cum  gens  numeret  auctores  suos, 
Linoque  Apollo  sit  parens,  Musa,  Orpheo 
Qui  saxa  cantu  movit,  et  domuit  feras, 
Hebrique  tenuit  impetus  dulci  mora." 

Phsedrus  wrote  his  "  Fables "  under  the  reign  of 
Tiberius,  and  while  Sejanus  had  the  administration  of 
the  empire.  He  has  the  merit  of  having  first  made  the 
Romans  acquainted  with  the  fables  of  -JSsop ;  but,  in 
the  preface  to  his  work,  he  modestly  terms  himself  only 
a  translator  of  JEsop : 

"-<Esopus  auctor  quam  materiam  repperit 
Hanc  ego  polivi  versibus  senariis." 

Still,  his  "  Fables "  are  not  mere  translations,  and 
Phaedrus  undoubtedly  deserves  the  credit  of  originality 
for  the  way  in  which  he  has  arranged  them.  Phaedrus 
wrote  five  books  of  fables,  containing  in  all  ninety 
fables,  written  in  iambic  verse.  He  is  distinguished 
for  a  precision,  gracefulness,  and  naivete  of  style  and 
manner,  that  have  never  been  surpassed.  His  diction 
is  remarkable  for  its  elegance,  though  this  occasionally 
is  pushed  too  far  into  the  regions  of  refinement. 

Phsedrus  was  persecuted  by  Sejanus,  and  no  won- 


190  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

der,  when  we  consider  the  tyranny  of  that  minister, 
and  the  meaning  of  the  "  Fables  "  of  Phasdms,  for  in 
many  of  them  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  fabulist  was  re- 
lating the  events  of  the  time  under  the  veil  of  fables. 
This  is  true  principally  of  the  fables  "  The  Frogs  and 
the  Sun,"  "The  Mules  and  the  Thieves,"  "The  Old 
Peasant  and  the  Ass,"  "  The  Man  and  the  Ass,"  and 
"  The  Wolf  and  the  Lamb." 

Section  II. — Satires. 

Anlus  Persiua  Flaccus  was  born  in  34  B.  o.,  at  Yola- 
terrse,  in  Etruria.  He  went  Jto  Rome  when  he  was 
twelve  years  old,  studied  seriously,  and  was  the  school- 
mate of  Lucan.  Persius  was  a  Stoic,  and  a  virtuous 
pagan.  He  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight.  His  works 
consist  of  six  "  Satires,"  with  a  prologue,  in  all  six 
hundred  and  fifty  verses.  The  chief  defect  of  Persius 
is  an  affected  obscurity  of  style,  which  is  so  great 
and  so  general  that  there  are  few  scholars  who  read 
these  performances  for  the  first  time  whose  progress  is 
not  arrested  at  almost  every  line  by  some  new  difficulty. 
Much  of  this  difficulty  is  owing  to  the  peculiar  char- 
acter of  the  poet's  mind,  to  his  affected  conciseness, 
and  to  the  show  of  erudition  which  he  is  so  fond  of 
exhibiting.  In  the  following  verses  we  may  see  the 
honest  sentiments  which  animated  Persius.  Even  a 
Christian  can  read  them  with  admiration : 

"  Quin  damns  id  snperie,  de  magna  quod  dare  lance 
Non  possit  magni  Messalro  lippa  propago ; 
Oompositum  jus  fasque  ammo  sanctosque  recessus 
Mentis  et  incoctum  generoso  pectns  honesto : 
HMO  cedo,  nt  admoveam  templis,  et  farre  litabo." 


POETRY.  191 

Decius  Junins  Jnvenalis  (some  write  Decimus  Ju- 
nius)  was  born  at  Aquinum,  in  the  town  which  sub- 
sequently gave  birth  to  the  eminent  schoolman  Thomas 
Aquinas.  The  year  of  his  birth  is  not  certainly  known, 
but  it  is  commonly  believed  that  he  was  born  in  the 
year  40  after  Christ.  A  great  portion  of  Juvenal's  life 
was  passed  during  a  period  of  political  horror  and 
misery.  For  some  reason  not  well  known,  but  prob- 
ably on  account  of  some  allusion  made  in  one  of  his 
satires  to  some  favorite  of  the  emperor,  Juvenal,  when 
he  was  eighty  years  old,  was  sent,  under  the  false  pre- 
text of  taking  a  delusory  command,  to  Egypt,  by  the 
Emperor  Adrian,  and  some  say  that  he  died  there, 
while  some  writers  pretend  that  he  was  called  back  to 
Rome,  where  he  died  in  128,  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight 
years. 

"We  have  sixteen  "  Satires "  from  the  pen  of  Ju- 
venal. If  we  may  judge  of  the  character  of  a  writer 
by  his  work,  Juvenal  was  a  man  of  rigid  probity,  and 
worthy  of  living  in  a  better  and  purer  age.  His 
"  Satires "  breathe  everywhere  a  love  of  virtue  and 
an  abhorrence  of  vice.  He  paints  in  strong  colors  the 
hypocrisy  and  the  vices  of  the  pretended  philosophers 
of  his  time.  He  found  the  weapons  for  attacking  them 
in  the  resources  of  his  own  genius,  by  the  experience 
which  a  long  acquaintance  with  the  world  had  gained 
for  him,  and  by  the  indignation  which  warmed  his 
bosom  on  contemplating  the  gross  corruption  of  his 
time.  Juvenal  has  been  compared  to  Horace.  He  is 
superior  to  this  last  writer  in  this  sense,  that  he  is  more 
of  a  satirist,  for,  like  Horace,  he  does  not  laugh  at 
vices,  but  speaks  with  indignation  against  them ;  and, 


192  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

besides,  the  writings  of  Juvenal  are  addressed  to  the 
encouragement  of  virtue  no  less  than  to  the  chastise- 
ment of  vice.  The  style  of  Juvenal  is  vigorous  and 
lucid,  although  he  fell  into  the  defect  common  to  the 
writers  of  that  epoch ;  he  is  declamatory  in  his  style, 
but  not  artificially  rhetorical.  He  may  be  blamed  for 
sometimes  using  language  gross  and  offensive,  but  it 
was  on  account  of  the  nature  of  the  subject  which  he 
was  treating.  The  "Satires"  of  Juvenal  might  be 
recommended  to  youth,  if  they  did  not  descend  so  mi- 
nutely into  the  details  of  vice. 

Section  IIL—Epio  Style. 

M.  Annseus  Lucanus,  born  at  Corduba,  in  39  after 
Christ,  was  of  a  Koman  family  of  equestrian  rank.  He 
went  early  to  Rome  and  studied  grammar,  rhetoric,  and 
philosophy,  embracing  the  principles  of  Zeno.  Lucan 
soon  discovered  his  talent  for  poetry.  He  was  a  friend 
of  the  Emperor  Nero,  but,  having  committed  the  im- 
prudence of  showing  his  superiority  over  him,  he  of- 
fended his  master,  and  that  was  the  cause  of  his  death, 
which  took  place  when  he  was  only  twenty-seven  years 
old.  The  following  inscription  to  his  memory  has  been 
attributed  to  Nero : 

"  M.  Annseo  Lucano,  Oordubensi  PoStae, 
Beneficio  Neronis.     Fama  servata." 

Besides  his  "  Pharsalia  "  he  composed  four  poems, 
viz. :  "  Combat  of  Hector  and  Achilles,"  "  Description 
of  the  Burning  of  Rome,"  "  Saturnalia,"  and  a  tragedy 
called  "Medea."  They  are  not  now  extant.  "The 
Pharsalia "  is  the  history  of  the  war  between  Csesar 


POETRY.  193 

and  Pompey ;  it  comprises  ten  books,  and  very  prob- 
ably it  is  not  finished.  This  poem  contains  many 
vigorous  and  animated  descriptions,  and  the  speeches 
are  characterized  by  considerable  rhetorical  merit,  but 
the  language  is  often  inflated,  and  the  expressions  are 
extremely  labored  and  artificial.  The  poem,  although 
of  an  epic  character,  should  rather  be  called  an  histor- 
ical poem,  for  the  event  was  not  sufficiently  removed 
from  Lucan's  time  to  permit  him  to  indulge  in  those 
fictions  which  belong  to  the  essence  of  the  epopee.  The 
principal  defect  of  "The  Pharsalia"  is  the  want  of 
unity  of  action.  It  is  really  impossible,  on  perusing 
it,  to  ascertain  the  object  of  the  poet.  His  principal 
heroes  are  Caesar  and  Pompey,  and  Cato  and  Brutus. 
In  the  delineation  of  these  characters  Lucan  is  defec- 
tive, Pompey  is  flattered,  and  Caesar  is  treated  with 
injustice.  However,  Lucan  did  not  succeed  in  making 
the  first  interesting,  Caesar  being,  after  all,  the  true 
hero.  Many  of  the  details  show  a  want  of  taste,  but 
we  ought  not  to  forget  that  Lucan  was  young.  The 
versification  also  wants  the  elegance  and  melody  of 
Yirgil.  Some  passages  of  "  The  Pharsalia  "  are  beau- 
tiful ;  the  description  of  the  passage  of  the  Rubicon, 
and  the  death  of  Pompey,  are  noble  specimens  of  Lu- 
can's style. 

The  following  extract  will  give  a  sufficient  idea  of 
Lucan's  poetry.  A  parallel  is  established  between 
Pompey  and  Caesar : 

"Nee  quemquam  jam  ferre  potest,  Csesarve  priorem, 
Pompeiusve  parem.     Quis  justius  induit  arma  ? 
Scire  nefas ;  magno  se  judice  quisqne  tuetur. 
Victria  causa  diis  placuit,  sed  victa  Catoni.  ^  v. 


194  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

Nee  coiere  pares.     Alter  vergentibus  arruis 
In  senium,  longoque  tog®  tranquillior  usu, 
Dedidicit  jam  pace  ducem;  famoeque  petitor, 
•  Multa  dare  in  vulgus,  totus  popularibus  auris 
Impelli,  plausuque  sui  gaudere  theatri, 
Nee  reparare  novas  vires,  multumque  priori 
Credere  fortunes :  stat  magni  nominis  umbra. 
Qnalis  frugifero  quercus  sublimis  in  agro 
Exuvias  veteres  populi,  sacrataque  gestans 
Dona  ducum,  nee  jam  validis  radicibus  bserens, 
Pondere  fixa  suo  est,  nudosque  per  aera  ramos 
Effundens,  trnnco,  non  frondibus,  efficit  nmbram : 
At  qnamvis  primo  nntet  casura  sub  Euro, 
Tot  circum  sylva3  firmo  se  robore  tollant, 
Sola  tamen  colitur.     Sed  non  in  Csosare  tantum 
Nomen  erat,  nee  fama  ducis ;  sed  nescia  virtus 
Stare  loco,  solusque  pudor  non  vincere  bello. 
Acer  et  indomitus;  quo  spes,  quoque  ira  vocasset, 
Ferre  mannm,  et  nunquam  temerando  parcere  ferro ; 
Successus  urgere  suos ;  instare  favore 
Numinis,  impellens  quidquid  sibi  suinma  petenti 
Obstaret,  gaudensque  viam  fecisse  ruina, 
Qualiter  expressum  ventis  per  nubila  fulmen, 
JEtheris  impulsi  sonitu  mundique  fragore 
Emicuit,  rupitque  diem,  populosque  paventes 
Terruit,  obliqua  perstringens  lumina  flamma : 
In  sua  templa  furit,  nullaque  exire  vetante 
Materia,  magnainque  cadens,  magnamque  revertens 
Dat  stragem  late,  sparsosque  recolligit  ignes." 

C.  Silius  Italicus  was  born  most  probably  in  Spain, 
in  25  after  Christ,  under  the  reign  of  Tiberius.  He 
was  a  very  celebrated  advocate ;  in  the  year  68  he  be- 
came consul,  and  soon  after  was  sent  to  Asia  as  a  pro- 
consul, and  during  the  time  that  he  was  in  office  acted 
very  honestly.  Silius  grew  very  rich,  and,  when  ho 
was  old,  he  retired  from  public  life.  He  starved  him- 


POETRY.  195 

self  to  death  at  the  age  of  seventy -five  years,  being 
unable  to  bear  the  sufferings  which  he  was  enduring 
on  account  of  a  carbuncle.  His  poems  display  elabo- 
rate care  rather  than  genius.  The  title  of  the  work 
which  we  have  is  "  Punica,"  the  dullest  and  most  tedi- 
ous poem  in  the  Latin  language ;  it  contains  seventeen 
books,  and  gives  the  history  of  the  second  Punic  "War. 
"  The  JEnei's  "  was  his  model,  and  the  writings  of  Livy 
furnished  the  materials.  The  criticism  of  Pliny  is  just : 
"  Scribebat  carmina  majori  cura  quam  ingenio."  Al- 
though it  is  impossible  to  read  his  poem  as  a  whole 
with  pleasure,  the  versification  is  harmonious,  and,  in 
point  of  smoothness,  sometimes  bears  comparison  with 
that  of  Yirgil.  Silius  describes  well,  and  some  of  his 
episodes,  considered  as  separate  pieces,  repay  the  trou- 
ble of  perusal ;  we  may  point  out  the  description  of  the 
Alps  as  a  model. 

C.  Valerius  Flaccns,  who  flourished  under  Yespasian, 
was  born  at  Kome,  and  died  in  88.  His  only  poem 
extant  is  entitled  "  Argonautica,"  and  is  an  imitation 
of  the  Greek  poem  of  Apollonius  Rhodius  on  the  same 
subject.  He  did  not  live  to  complete  the  work ;  even 
the  eighth  book  remains  unfinished,  and,  judging  from 
what  we  have,  he  planned  a  poem  of  the  same  length 
'as  that  of  Yirgil.  There  are  in  this  work  no  glaring 
faults  or  blemishes.  There  is  some  occasional  dryness, 
and  a  few  awkward  expressions  and  paraphrases,  but 
there  is  no  bombast  to  outrage  good  taste,  nor  unmetri- 
cal  cadences  to  offend  the  ear ;  on  the  other  hand,  there 
is  no  genius,  no  inspiration,  no  thrilling  fervor,  no 
thoughts  that  breathe  nor  words  that  burn.  He  never 
rises  above  the  dead  level ;  every  thing  is  in  accordance 


196  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

with  decent  and  correct  propriety ;  he  describes  well, 
and  his  verses  are  harmonious. 

P.  Papinms  Statins,  the  Younger,  was  born  at  Naples, 
in  61,  and  died  in  the  same  city  when  he  was  34  years 
old.  Statius  possessed  a  ready  facility  for  versification, 
which  was  surpassed  by  no  one  in  classic  antiquity  but 
Ovid,  and  he  was  successful  as  long  as  he  contented 
himself  with  being  a  poet  on  a  small  scale.  His  prin- 
cipal productions  were  "  The  Sylvse,"  "  The  Achilleid," 
and  "  The  Thebaid."  "  The  Sylvse  "  consist  of  thirty- 
two  separate  pieces,  and  they  contain  many  poetical 
incidents  which  might  stand  by  themselves  as  fugitive 
pieces.  It  matters  not  how  light  or  trifling  the  subject 
may  be,  he  can  raise  it  and  adorn  it.  He  writes  with 
equal  beauty  on  the  tree  of  his  friend  Atedius  (Sylv.  ii., 
5),  the  death  of  a  parrot,  of  the  emperor's  lion  (Sylv.  ii., 
3),  the  locks  of  Flavius  Earinus  (Sylv.  ii.,  4),  etc.  The 
principal  fault  of  his  "  Silvse  "  is  too  great  a  display  of 
Greek  learning.  Every  page  is  full  of  mythological 
allusions,  which  sometimes  render  his  graceful  verses 
dry  and  wearisome.  The  qualities  which  recommend 
his  "  Sylvse  "  do  not  adorn  his  epic  poetry ;  his  imagi- 
nary heroes  do  not  inspire  and  warm  his  imagination, 
and  he  attempts  to  compensate  for  this  deficiency  by 
extravagant  bombast,  and  by  an  attention  to  the  theo- 
retical principles  of  art  and  an  elaborate  finish.  He 
owes  the  estimation  in  which  he  is  held  as  an  epic  poet 
to  his  relative  merit;  he  was  the  best  of  the  heroic 
poets  of  his  day.  Statius  was  evidently  a  profound 
student,  and  in  two  points,  that  is,  in  his  battles  and 
similes,  he  has  shown  himself  a  successful  imitator  of 
Homer.  "  The  Thebaid  "  is  composed  of  twelve  books, 


POETRY.  197 

and  its  subject  is  the  ancient  Greek  legends  respecting 
the  war  of  the  Seven  against  Thebes.  "  The  Achilleid  " 
was  intended  to  embrace  the  exploits  of  Achilles ;  but 
two  books  only  were  completed,  the  second  even  being 
unfinished. 

Domitian. — This  emperor  also  wrote  verses,  and  not 
without  merit  in  regard  to  language  and  versification. 
We  have  from  him  a  paraphrase  of  "  The  Phenomena  " 
of  Aratus,  falsely  ascribed  to  Germanicus  ;  it  is  written 
with  taste,  but  Domitian  had  not  much  talent. 

Section  IV. — Epigrams. 

M.  Valerius  Martialis  was  born  in  Spain,  at  Bilbilis, 
in  the  province  of  Tarragon,  in  the  year  43.  The  Em- 
peror Yespasian  having  conferred  the  "jusLatii"  on 
his  native  place,  Martial  was  by  birth  a  Roman  citizen. 
He  came  to  Rome  when  he  was  twenty-two  years  old, 
in  the  twelfth  year  of  the  reign  of  Nero.  He  was  a 
great  favorite  of  Titus  and  Domitian,  and,  although  he 
complains  of  his  poverty,  he  was  rich  enough.  Martial 
lived  thirty-five  years  in  Home,  and  was  a  flatterer  all 
the  time  He  then  returned  to  his  native  place,  and 
married  a  rich  widow,  whom  he  praised  beyond  expres- 
sion in  his  writings,  and,  when  inclined  to  regret,  he 
says  that  she  alone  is  all  that  Rome  ever  was  to  him : 

"  Tu  desiderium  dominse  mihi  mitius  urbis 
Esse  jubes ;  Romam  tu  mihi  sola  facis." 

Notwithstanding  his  assertion,  Martial  regretted  much 
having  left  Rome.  He  died  in  104,  and  left  twelve 
hundred  "  Epigrams,"  forming  fourteen  books.  These 
epigrams  are  not,  with  Martial,  harmless  verses,  but 
they  are  essentially  satirical  compositions.  His  "  Epi- 


198  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

grams  "  reveal  in  a  strong,  and  too  unveiled  language, 
the  fearful  profligacy  of  his  time.  He  speaks  of  it  with 
a  cynical  delight.  This  would  be  a  crime  in  our  time, 
but  the  prevalence  of  vice  at  that  epoch  produced  the 
obscenity  of  the  poet.  This  is,  however,  the  only  de- 
fence we  may  offer  for  his  works,  in  which  the  char- 
acters of  vice  are  emblazoned  in  such  shameless  and 
unnatural  deformity.  It  is  difficult,  when  we  read 
Martial,  to  believe  what  he  says,  that,  although  his 
verses  are  licentious,  his  life  was  virtuous  : 

"  Lasciva  est  nobis  pagina,  vita  proba  est." 

We  observe  in  Martial  that  strange  combination  of 
varied  wit,  poetical  imagination,  and  graceful  language, 
not  only  with  strong  passions,  but  with  a  delight  in 
vice  in  its  most  hateful  form  and  attributes.  All  his 
poems  are  not  thus  spiteful  and  obscene;  some  are 
redolent  of  Greek  sweetness  and  elegance,  like  the  fol- 
lowing lines  accompanying  a  rose  to  Apollinaris : 

"  I,  felix  rosa,  mollibusque  sertis 
Nostri  cinge  comas  Apollinaris ; 
Quas  tu  nectere  Candidas  sed  olim, 
Sic  te  semper  amet  Venus,  memento." 

Here  is  another  favorable  specimen  of  his  poetry  : 

"  Indignas  premeret  pestis  cum  tabida  fauces, 
Inque  ipsos  vnltus  serperet  atra  lues ; 
Siccis  ipse  genis  flentes  hortatus  amicos 
Decrevit  stygios  Festus  adire  lacus. 
Nee  tamen  obscuro  pia  polluit  ora  veneno, 
Aut  torsit  lenta  tristia  fata  fame ; 
Sanctam  Romana  vitam  sed  morte  peregit, 
Dimisitque  animam  nobiliore  via. 
Hanc  mortem  fatis  magni  proeferre  Catonis 
Fama  potest ;  hujus  Caesar  amicus  erat." 


PROSE— HISTORY.  199 

CHAPTEE  II. 

PKOSE HIS TOUT. 

Velleius  Paterculus  was  a  soldier  of  equestrian  rank 
under  Tiberius,  and  probably  was  put  to  death  after 
the  fall  of  Sejanus.  He  wrote  a  short  "  History  of 
Rome,"  in  two  books.  The  first  is  in  a  very  imper- 
fect state,  but  the  second  is  well  preserved.  It  is  a 
work  of  much  merit;  the  most  striking  events  are 
selected,  and  told  in  a  lively  and  interesting  manner. 
Unfortunately,  Paterculus  is  partial,  prejudiced,  and 
adulatory.  He  was  a  man  of  lively  talents,  although 
of  superficial  education,  and  his  language  shows  already 
signs  of  degeneracy  in  the  Latin  tongue.  In  his  style 
he  imitates  the  concise  and  energetic  manner  of  Sal- 
lust.  His  diction  is  generally  pure  and  elegant,  but 
he  falls  into  affectations  by  searching  for  archaisms 
and  antiquated  forms  of  expression,  and  by  using  too 
frequently  moral  sentences  and  figures  of  rhetoric.  Pa- 
terculus also  draws.his  characters  with  a  masterly  hand. 

Valerius  Maximus  lived  at  the  same  time  as  Pater- 
culus, and  can  scarcely  be  called  an  historian.  He  wrote 
a  collection  of  anecdotes  entitled  "  Dictorum,  Factorum 
Memorabilium  Libri  IX."  His  purpose  is  a  moral  one, 
and  he  wants  to  illustrate  by  examples  the  beauty  of 
virtue  and  the  deformity  of  vice.  Nothing  is  known 
for  certain  respecting  his  personal  history.  His  work 
is  dedicated  to  Tiberius.  He  classifies  the  individuals 
of  whom  he  treats  according  to  some  peculiar  vice  or 
virtue,  of  which  they  are  cited  as  examples.  Valerius, 


200  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

in  the  whole  work,  displays  very  little  judgment ;  no 
one  ever  carried  flattery  to  a  greater  extent.  His  man- 
ner of  narration  is  far  from  pleasing,  and  his  style  is 
cold,  declamatory,  and  affected. 

C.  Cornelius  Tacitus  was  born  probably  in  the  year 
54,  but  it  is  not  exactly  known.  He  was  of  equestrian 
rank,  and,  under  the  reigns  of  Vespasian  and  Titus,  he 
was  procurator  of  Belgic  Gaul.  In  the  year  78,  he 


married  the  daughter  of  Agricola.  Tacitus  discharged 
several  high  offices  in  the  state.  It  is  not  known  when 
Tacitus  died,  nor  whether  he  left  any  descendants ;  but, 
no  doubt,  he  survived  the  accession  of  Hadrian. 

The  works  of  Tacitus  are  extensive.  We  have  from 
him :  1.  A  life  of  his  father-in-law,  Agricola ;  2.  A 
treatise  on  "  The  Manners,  Situation,  and  Nations  of 
the  Germans ; "  3.  A  portion  of  a  voluminous  work 
entitled  "  Histories ; "  4.  About  two-thirds  of  another 
historical  work  called  "  Annales ;  "  and,  5.  According 
to  the  most  probable  opinion,  a  dialogue  on  u  The  De- 
cline of  Eloquence."  The  brief  sketch  of  the  life  of 


PROSE— HISTORY.  201 

Agricola  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  vigor  and  force 
of  expression  with  which  this  greatest  painter  of  an- 
tiquity could  throw  off  any  portrait  which  he  at- 
tempted. The  treatise  on  "  The  Geography,  Man- 
ners, and  Nations  of  the  Germans  "  (De  Situ,  Moribua 
et  Populis  Germanise),  is  but  little  longer  than  the  life 
of  Agricola.  Tacitus  was  never  in  Germany ;  Ms 
knowledge  is  consequently  collected  from  those  who 
had  visited  it,  for  the  purpose  either  of  war  or  com- 
merce. Hence  his  geographical  descriptions  are  some- 
times vague  and  inaccurate,  still  the  salient  points  of 
the  national  manners  bear  the  impress  of  truth.  We 
have  four  books  of  his  "  Histories,"  and  a  portion  of 
the  fifth,  from  the  second  consulship  of  Galba  to  the 
siege  of  Jerusalem.  According  to  St.  Jerome  the  work 
consisted  of  thirty  books ;  these  books  are  a  vast  field 
of  faithful  history,  and  the  few  blats — which,  indeed, 
are  few — come  from  the  too  great  readiness  of  Tacitus 
to  accept  evidence  unhesitatingly.  The  "  Annals  "  are 
so  called  because  each  historical  event  is  recorded  in 
historical  order,  under  the  year  in  which  it  belongs. 
They  consist  of  sixteen  books,  commence  with  the 
death  of  Augustus,  and  conclude  with  that  of  Nero. 
The  only  portions  extant  are  the  first  four  books,  a 
part  of  the  fifth,  the  sixth,  a  part  of  the  eleventh,  and 
then  the  twelfth,  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  fifteenth,  and 
commencement  of  the  sixteenth.  They  are  rather  his- 
tories of  each  successive  emperor  than  of  the  Roman 
people.  Tacitus  delineated  the  lives  and  deaths  of  in- 
dividuals, and  showed  the  relation  which  they  bore  to 
the  fortunes  of  their  country. 

Full  of  observation  and  descriptive  power,  Tacitus 


202  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

engages  the  serious  attention  of  the  reader  by  the  grav- 
ity of  his  condensed  and  comprehensive  style,  as  he 
does  by  the  wisdom  and  earnestness  of  his  reflections. 
In  the  style  of  Tacitus  the  form  is  always  subordinate 
to  the  matter.  His  brevity  is  the  necessary  conden- 
sation  of  a  writer  whose  thoughts  flow  more  quickly 
than  his  pen  can  express  them.  That  brevity  is  neither 
dry  nor  harsh ;  it  is  enlivened  by  copiousness,  variety, 
and  poetry.  He  scarcely  ever  repeats  the  same  idea 
in  the  same  form ;  no  author  is  richer  in  synonymous 
words.  As  for  poetic  genius,  his  language  is  highly 
figurative ;  his  descriptions  are  eminently  picturesque. 
The  discourses  found  in  the  writings  of  Tacitus  show 
that  he  was  not  only  a  good  historian  but  also  a  perfect 
orator,  and  that  he  deserved  the  praise  given  him  by 
Pliny  the  Younger. 

Suetonius  Tranquillus  was  the  son  of  Suetonius  Lenis, 
a  tribune  in  the  army  which  fought  at  Bedriacum,  and 
was  born  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Vespasian 
(71),  but  the  precise  date  of  his  birth  is  not  known. 
He  followed  at  Borne  the  profession  of  grammarian. 
Pliny  obtained  for  him  the  favors  of  Trajan.  Sueto- 
nius wrote  twelve  "  Biographies  "  of  the  first  twelve 
Caesars.  These  were  Julius  Caesar,  Augustus,  Tibe- 
rius, Caligula,  Claudius,  Nero,  Galba,  Otho,  Yitellius, 
Vespasian,  Titus,  and  Domitian.  His  purpose  was  to 
delineate  their  private  character,  their  virtues,  and 
vices.  His  narrative  does  not  follow  a  chronological 
order.  The  characters  are  faithfully  traced.  He,  like 
Plutarch,  gathered  his  materials  from  several  very  dif- 
ferent authorities,  but  these  authorities  were  better 
known  to  him  than  were  to  Plutarch  those  which  have 


PROSE— HISTORY.  203 

been  used  by  him.  His  style  is  simple,  concise,  and 
correct,  without  ornament  or  affectation.  "We  have 
from  Suetonius  an  account  of  distinguished  gramma- 
rians, and  of  celebrated  rhetoricians.  He  wrote  other 
books  which  are  not  extant. 

Q,  Curtius  Kufus. — Ko  ancient  writer  speaks  of  him, 
and  it  is  only  in  the  twelfth  century  that  he  is  men- 
tioned. From  one  passage  only  of  his  writings  we  may 
form  some  conjecture  concerning  the  time  when  he 
lived — it  was  very  likely  under  Vespasian.  His  book 
is  entitled  "  De  Eebus  Gestis  Alexandri  Magni."  It 
was  divided  into  ten  books,  but  the  first  two,  the  end 
of  the  fifth,  and  the  beginning  of  the  sixth,  are  lost. 
Freinshemius  has  done  for  him  what  he  did  for  Livy — 
he  has  completed  the  work.  The  history  of  Q.  Curtius 
is  more  of  a  romance  than  a  history.  The  speeches 
which  Eufus  puts  in  the  mouths  of  his  heroes  are  mere 
rhetorical  declamations.  Giving  the  history  of  Alexan- 
der from  documents,  Hufus  chose  those  which  pleased 
him  the  most,  not  paying  attention  to  the  purity  of  the 
sources.  He  shows  everywhere  his  ignorance  of  mili- 
tary affairs,  of  geography  and  astronomy,  and  con- 
founds many  things.  We  might  compare  the  book  of 
Q.  Curtius  to  "  The  History  of  Charles  XII.,"  by  Vol- 
taire ;  it  is  done  evidently  for  the  purpose  not  of  writ- 
ing history,  but  of  writing.  Surely,  if  Curtius  be  not 
an  historian,  he  is  a  very  interesting  writer.  His  dic- 
tion is  pure  and  elegant,  some  of  his  harangues  are  mas- 
terpieces, and  he  is  rich  in  beautiful  descriptions.  His 
style  has  the  defect  generally  found  in  the  "  Silver  Age," 
being  too  ornamented,  and  sometimes  declamatory. 

L.  Annaeus  Floras  was  born  either  in  Spain  or  in  Gaul, 


204  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

and  be  wrote  under  the  reign  of  Trajan.  We  can  give 
nothing  more  precise  concerning  the  time  and  the 
place  of  his  birth.  He  has  left  an  abridgment  of  Ro- 
man history,  entitled  "Epitome  de  Gestis  Romano- 
rum,"  from  the  foundation  of  Rome  to  the  year  725, 
when  Augustus  shut  the  Temple  of  Janus.  It  is  less 
a  history  than  a  eulogium  of  the  Roman  people,  writ- 
ten with  elegance,  but  with  affectation.  Florus  com- 
mitted many  faults  in  a  geographical  and  chronological 
point  of  view.  His  text  has  reached  us  in  a  very  cor- 
rupt state,  and  abounds  with  interpolations.  It  has 
been  said  that  the  work  was  from  Seneca,  but  this 
opinion  cannot  be  accepted ;  besides,  we  know  that 
Seneca  belonged  to  a  branch  of  the  Annsean  family, 
and  Florus  may  have  been  called  Seneca,  or  some  mis- 
take may  have  been  committed  by  the  copyist. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PROSE — PHILOSOPHERS   AND   GRAMMARIANS. 

M.  Annseus  Seneca  was  born  at  Cordova,  in  the  year 
61  B.  o.  He  was  the  father  of  L.  Annseus  Seneca  the 
Philosopher.  He  left  two  works,  the  composition  of 
which  was  the  employment  of  his  old  age.  They  are 
the  result  of  his  long  and  successful  experience  as  a 
teacher  of  rhetoric.  They  exhibit  wit,  learning,  in- 
genuity, and  taste  to  select  and  admire  the  best  literary 
specimens  of  earlier  periods.  The  first  work  was  en- 
titled "  Controversiae,"  and  was  divided  into  ten  books. 


PROSE— PHILOSOPHERS  AND  GRAMMARIANS.         205 

of  which  the  first,  second,  seventh,  eighth,  and  tenth, 
are  extant.  His  other  work,  "  The  Suasorias,"  con- 
tains exercises  in  deliberative  oratory,  the  subjects  of 
which  are  taken  from  the  historians  and  poets. 

L.  Annans  Seneca,  the  son  of  the  former,  was  born 
at  Cordova,  at  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  era. 
His  father  brought  him  to  Rome  when  he  was  young, 
and  there  he  studied  rhetoric  and  philosophy.  He  had 
a  very  stormy  life,  under  the  reign  of  Claudius,  when 
he  was  exiled  to  Corsica  on  account  of  a  calumny. 


After  eight  years  he  was  recalled  to  Home,  to  be  the 
preceptor  of  Nero.  The  pupil  was  vicious,  and  Seneca 
did  not  see  that  it  was  his  duty  to  try  seriously  to  cor- 
rect him ;  he.only  endeavored  to  gain  the  favor  of  his  pu- 
pil. Seneca,  by  usury  and  legacy-hunting,  had  acquired 
one  of  those  enormous  fortunes  of  which  so  many  in- 
stances are  met  with  in  Roman  history.  He  incurred 


206  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

subsequently  the  displeasure  of  Nero,  although,  in  or- 
der to  comply  with  the  wickedness  of  that  monster,  he 
had  denied  the  culpability  of  Nero  in  the  death  of  his 
mother,  and  even  made  the  apology  of  the  parricide. 
He  was  put  to  death,  or  rather  he  had  to  kill  himself. 

Seneca  is  the  author  of  twelve  ethical  treatises,  the 
best  of  which  are  entitled  "  De  Providentia,"  "  De 
Constantia  Sapientis,"  and  "  De  Consolatione."  In 
the  treatise  "De  Providentia"  he  discusses  the  ques- 
tion, "Why,  since  there  is  a  divine  Providence,  are 
good  men  liable  to  misfortunes  ? "  and  Seneca  finds  that 
there  is  a  legitimate  remedy,  when  the  sum  of  evil  is 
greater  than  that  of  good,  and  that  is  suicide.  Seneca 
cared  little  for  abstract  speculations ;  he  valued  them 
only  as  subordinate  to  mental  and  natural  philosophy. 
He  delighted  in  inculcating  precepts  rather  than  in- 
vestigating principles,  and,  for  that  reason,  his  works 
furnish  a  rich  mine  for  quotations.  Seneca  was  always 
a  favorite  with  Christian  writers — some  of  his  senti- 
ments are  truly  Christian  ;  there  is  even  a  tradition 
that  he  was  acquainted  with  St.  Paul,  and  fourteen 
letters  of  that  apostle  have  been  attributed  to  him. 
His  "  Epistles,"  of  which  there  are  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four,  are  moral  essays  in  an  epistolary  form, 
and  are  the  most  delightful  of  his  works. 

In  his  old  age,  he  wrote  seven  books  on  questions 
connected  with  natural  phenomena  —  "  Quaestionum 
Naturalium  Libri  VII. ; "  but  Seneca  treats  those  sub- 
jects like  a  moralist,  and  makes  them  the  occasion  of 
ethical  reflections.  He  wrote  one  satire,  "  The  Funeral 
Oration  of  Claudius."  Seneca  wrote  also  seven  trage- 
dies; although  six  of  them  have  been  attributed  by 


PROSE— PHILOSOPHERS  AND  GRAMMARIANS.         207 

some  grammarians  to  his  father,  and  it  has  even  been 
said  that  they  were  the  work  of  another  Seneca — a 
third  one — it  seems  well  demonstrated  to-day  that  L. 
Annseus  Seneca  the  Philosopher  was  the  author  of 
those  tragedies.  They  are:  "Medea,"  "  Troades," 
" Hippolytus,"  "Agamemnon,"  "Hercules  Furens," 
"Thyestes,"  and  "Hercules  in  (Eta."  As  to  these 
compositions,  it  is  really  impossible  to  find  a  good 
tragedy  among  them.  All  are  defective  in  plan,  and 
in  the  management  of  the  pieces;  they  are  all  bar- 
ren of  action,  and  full  of  declamation.  They  are  mod- 
elled after  Greek  tragedies,  but  are  very  far  from 
being  good  copies.  They  generally  embody  the  ethical 
philosophy  of  Seneca.  The  style  of  Seneca  is  the  one 
which  characterizes  best  the  style  of  the  "  Silver  Age." 
It  is  faulty,  like  the  style  of  Juvenal,  and  Tacitus,  and 
Lucan ;  that  means  that  it  is  beyond  the  pale  of  the 
best  Latinity.  Quintilian  and  Aulus  Gellius  have  crit- 
icised it  too  severely.  Seneca  was  a  good  writer,  but 
he  had  the  defect,  as  we  have  said,  common  to  the 
writers  of  his  time  :  he  was  too  declamatory,  too  fond 
of  sparkle  and  glitter.  He  might  be  compared,  for  his 
love  of  antithesis,  to  Victor  Hugo. 

'  C.  Plinius  Secundns,  the  Elder,  was  born  in  23,  at 
Verona,  or  Como.  He  received  his  education  in  Rome, 
and  served  in  Germany  under  Claudius ;  then  he  re- 
turned to  Rome,  and  practised  at  the  bar,  filled  differ- 
ent civil  offices,  and  was  subsequently  procurator  in 
Spain.  A  letter  of  his  nephew  tells  us  of  his  passion 
for  study,  and  makes  us  acquainted  with  the  details  of 
his  death — which  happened  at  the  time  of  the  first  erup- 
tion of  Mount  Vesuvius,  in  79 — and  with  his  works. 


208  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

Plinius  the  Naturalist  wrote :  1.  "  The  Art  of  Using 
the  Javelin  on  Horseback ;  "  2.  "  The  Life  of  Poinpo- 
nius  Secundus ; "  3.  "  A  History  of  the  Twenty  Wars 
carried  on  by  the  Komans  with  the  Germans ; "  4.  "  A 
Treatise  on  Eloquence ; "  5.  Eight  books  on  "  Gram- 
matical Ambiguity ; "  6.  Thirty  books  of  "  History ; " 
and  7".  Thirty-seven  books  on  "  Natural  History."  This 
work  is  an  unequalled  monument  of  studious  diligence 
and  persevering  industry ;  it  consists  of  thirty-seven 
books,  and  contains  twenty  thousand  facts  connected 
with  Nature  and  art.  There  is  in  it,  of  course,  a  con- 
fused arrangement ;  but  it  is  owing  to  the  indefinite 
state  of  science,  and  the  mixture  of  branches  which 
are  separate  and  distinct.  Pliny  admits  too  easily 
many  tales  which  even  are  absurd,  but  we  find  in  the 
work  many  valuable  truths.  The  style  is  always  full 
of  vigor  and  expression,  but  sometimes  too  florid  and 
bombastic.  The  philosophical  character  of  the  whole 
work  is  pantheistic.  Pliny  was  only  fifty-six  years  old 
when  he  died,  and,  of  all  his  writings,  only  the  "  Nat- 
ural History  "  has  come  down  to  us. 

C.  Plinius  Cfiecilius  Secundus,  the  Younger,  was  sis- 
ter's son  to  the  elder  Pliny.  He  was  born  in  61,  at 
Como,  and  was  eighteen  years  old  when  the  eruption 
above  mentioned  took  place.  He  was  well  educated, 
and  had  for  his  teacher  of  grammar  Quintilian.  His 
taste  for  literature  was  cultivated  early,  and  he  wrote 
verses,  although  his  prose  only  remains.  The  works 
of  Pliny  are,  "The  Panegyric  of  Trajan,"  and  ten 
books  of  very  valuable  letters — valuable  on  account  of 
the  information  which  they  give  about  the  manners 
and  modes  of  thought  of  his  time,  and  the  politics  of 


PROSE— PHILOSOPHERS  AND  GRAMMARIANS.         209 

the  day.  They  are  most  delightful  to  read,  and  are 
not  inferior  to  those  of  Cicero  for  liveliness,  descrip- 
tive power,  elegance,  and  simplicity  of  style.  In  one 


of  them  we  have  a  "Biography  of  Silius  Italicus,"  a 
rery  important  document.  We  give  it  as  an  example 
of  Pliny's  style: 

DB  INGEXIO,  VITA  ET  MOEIBTTS    BILO.    ITALICI,    CTTJTJS   OBITU8  DOOET 
QTLB  SIT   HUMAN^E   VIT^E  FEAGUJTAS. 

"  Modo  nuntiatus  est  Silius  Italicus  in  Neapolitano  suo  inedia 
vitam  finisse.  Causa  mortis,  valetudo.  Erat  illi  natus  insana- 
bilis  clavus,  cujus  tsedio  ad  mortem  irrevocabili  constantia  de- 
cucurrit:  usque  ad  supremum  diem  beatus  et  felix,  nisi  quod 
ininorem  ex  liberis  duobus  amisit;  sed  majorem  melioremque, 
florentem  atque  etiam  consularem  reliquit.  Laeserat  famam  suam 
sub  Nerone ;  credebatur  sponte  accusasse.  Sed  in  Vitellii  ami- 
citia  sapienter  se  et  comiter  gesserat;  ex  proconsulatu  Asiso 
gloriam  reportaverat :  maculam  veteris  industriaa  laudabili  otio 


210  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

abluerat.  Fuit  inter  principes  civitatis  sine  potentia,  sine  invidia. 
Salutabatur,  colebatur,  multnmquein  lectulo  jacens,  cubiculo  sem- 
per non  ex  fortuna  frequenti.  Doctissimis  sermonibus  dies  trans- 
igebat,  qunm  a  scribendo  vacaret.  Scribebat  carmina  majore 
cura  quam  ingenio :  nonnunquam  judicia  hominam  recitationibus 
experiebatur.  Novissime,  ita  suadentibus  annis,  ab  urbe  secessit, 
seque  in  Campania  tenuit ;  ac  ne  adventu  quidem  novi  principis 
inde  commotus  est.  Magna  Caesaris  laus,  sub  quo  boc  liberum 
fait ;  magna  illius  qui  hac  libertate  ausus  est  uti.  Erat  (jtiUicalof  * 
usque  ad  emacitatis  reprehension  em.  Plures  iisdem  in  locis  villas 
possidebat,  adamatisque  novis,  priores  negligebat.  Multum  ubique 
librorum,  multum  statuarum,  multum  imaginuin,  quas  non  babe- 
bat  modo,  verum  etiam  venerabatur;  Virgilii  ante  omnes,  cujus 
natalem  religiosius  quam  snnm  celebrabat,  Neapoli  rnaxime,  ubi 
monumentum  ejus  adire,  ut  templum,  solebat.  In  hac  tranquilli- 
tate  annum  quintum  et  septuagesimum  excessit,  delicato  magis 
corpore  quam  infirmo.  Utque  novissimus  a  Nerone  factus  est 
consul,  ita  postremus  ex  omnibus  quos  Nero  consules  fecerat,  de- 
cessit.  Illud  etiam  notabile  ;  ultimus  ex  Neroninnis  consularibus 
obiit,  quo  consule  Nero  periit.  Quod  me  recordantem,  fragilitatis 
humance  miseratio  subit.  Quid  enim  tarn  circumcisum,  tarn  breve, 
quam  hominis  vita  longissima  ?  An  non  videtnr  tibi  Nero  modo 
fuisse,  quum  interim  ex  iis  qui  sub  illo  gesserant  consulatum,  nemo 
jam  superest?  Qnanqnam  quid  hoc  miror?  Nuper  Lucius  Piso, 
pater  Pisonis  illing  qui  a  Valeric  Festo  per  suinmuin  facinus  in 
Africa  occisus  est,  dicere  solebat,  Neminem  se  ridere  in  senatu, 
quern  consul  ipse  sententiam  rogavisset.  Tarn  angustis  terminis 
tantse  multitudinis  vivacitas  ipsa  concluditur,  ut  mihi  non  venia 
solum  dignaB,  verum  etiam  laude  videantur  illse  regi®  lacrymte. 
Nam  ferunt  Xerxem,  quum  immensum  exercitum  oculis  obiisset, 
illacrymasse,  quod  tot  millibus  tarn  brevia  immineret  occasus. 
Sed  tanto  magis  hoc,  quidquid  est  temporis  futilis  et  caduci,  si 
non  datur  factis  (nam  horum  materia  in  aliena  manu),  nos  certe 
stndiis  proferamus ;  et,  quatenus  nobis  denegatur  diu  vivere,  re- 
linquamus  aliquid,  quo  nos  vixisse  testemur.  Scio  te  stiraulis  non 
egere ;  me  tamen  tui  charitas  evocat,  ut  currentem  quoque  in- 

*  Berum  pulchrarum  cupidus. 


PROSE-PHILOSOPHERS  AND  GRAMMARIANS.         211 

stigem,  sicut  tu  soles  me.  'Ayafty  <P  l/w?  *  quam  invicem  se  mu- 
tuis  exhortationibus  amici  ad  amorem  immortalitatis  exacuunt. 
Vale." 

The  tenth  book  is  the  most  important,  containing 
the  letters  of  Pliny  to  Trajan,  and  several  answers  of 
that  prince.  •  Plinj  died  in  110,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
nine  years. 

M.  Fabius  Quintiliamis  was  born  in  Spain  in  42,  and 
died  at  Rome  in  118.  He  went  there  early,  and  was 
twenty  years  a  teacher  of  grammar  and  rhetoric.  He 
had  Pliny  the  Younger  as  a  pupil,  and  also  two  grand- 
nephews  of  the  Emperor  Domitian.  Quintilian  was 
paid  by  the  state ;  he  was  in  good  circumstances,  al- 
though he  could  not  at  that  time  be  called  a  rich  man. 
He  married  twice. 

His  countryman  Martial,  speaking  of  him  as  the 
glory  of  the  Roman  bar,  and  the  head  of  his  profession 
as  an  instructor,  says : 

"  Quintiliane,  vagaa  moderator  summe  juventae, 
Gloria  Romanae,  Quintiliane,  togse." 

Quintilian's  great  work  is  entitled  "  Institutiones 
Oratories,"  in  twelve  books.  It  is  a  complete  treatise 
on  the  rhetorical  art,  which  embraces  a  plan  of  study 
for  the  orator  from  the  first  elements  of  grammar. 
Quintilian  here  states  the  results  of  long  experience 
and  deep  reflection.  He  gives  signal  proofs  in  it  of  an 
excellent  judgment,  of  a  refined,  critical  spirit,  of  a  pure 
taste,  and  of  extensive  and  varied  reading.  This  work 
is  preferable  to  all  that  we  have  from  Cicero  respect- 

*  Bona  autem  concertatio,  hsec  mortalibus. — HBSIODUS. 


212  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

ing  the  theory  of  eloquence.  Quintilian  has  formed 
his  style  upon  that  of  Cicero,  and  he  writes  with  an 
elegance  which  would  entitle  him  to  rank  by  the  side 
of  the  present  models  of  the  Augustan  age,  if  certain 
obscure  expressions,  and  some  specimens  of  affected 
phraseology,  did  not  betray  a  later  writer.  His  tenth 
book  contains  a  very  precious  "  History  of  Ancient  Lit- 
erature." The  declamations  ascribed  to  him  do  not, 
certainly,  belong  to  Quintilian. 

The  disposition  of  Quintilian  was  as  affectionate 
and  tender  as  his  genius  was  brilliant  and  his  taste 
pure.  Few  passages,  throughout  the  whole  range  of 
Latin  literature,  can  be  compared  to  that  in  which  he 
mourns  the  loss  of  his  wife  and  children.  "We  may 
judge  by  the  following  translation  : 

"  I  had  a  son,"  says  he,  "  whose  eminent  genius 
deserved  a  father's  anxious  diligence.  I  thought  that 
if — which  I  might  fairly  have  expected  and  wished  for 
— if  death  had  removed  me  from  him,  I  could  have 
left  him,  as  the  best  inheritance,  a  father's  instructions. 
But  by  a  second  blow,  a  second  bereavement,  I  have 
lost  the  object  of  my  highest  hopes,  the  only  comfort 
of  my  declining  years.  What  shall  I  do  now?  Of 
what  use  can  I  suppose  myself  to  be,  as  the  gods  have 
cast  me  off?  It  happened  that  when  I  commenced 
my  book  on  the  causes  of  corrupt  eloquence,  I  was 
stricken  by  a  similar  blow.  It  would  have  been  best 
then  to  have  flung  myself  upon  the  funeral-pile — which 
was  destined  prematurely  to  consume  all  that  bound 
me  to  life — my  unlucky  work,  and  the  ill-starred  fruits 
of  all  my  toils,  and  not  to  have  wearied  with  new  cares 
a  life  to  which  I  so  unnaturally  clung.  For  what  ten- 


PROSE— PHILOSOPHERS  AND   GRAMMARIANS.         213 

der  parent  would  pardon  me  if  I  were  able  to  study 
any  longer,  and  not  hate  my  firmness  of  mind,  if  I, 
who  survived  all  my  dear  ones,  could  find  any  employ- 
ment for  my  tongue,  except  to  accuse  the  gods,  and  to 
protest  that  no  Providence  looks  down  upon  the  affairs 
of  men  ? 

"  Their  mother  had  before  been  torn  from  me,  who 
had  given  birth  to  two  sons  before  she  had  completed 
her  nineteenth  year ;  and,  though  her  death  was  a  cruel 
blow  to  me,  to  her  it  was  a  happy  one.  To  me  the 
affliction  was  so  crushing  that  Fortune  could  no  longer 
restore  me  to  happiness.  For  not  only  did  the  exercise 
of  every  feminine  virtue  render  her  husband's  grief  in- 
curable, but,  compared  with  my  own  age,  she  was  but 
a  girl,  and  therefore  her  loss  may  be  accounted  as  that 
of  a  child.  Still  my  children  survived,  and  were  my 
joy  and  comfort,  and  she,  since  I  survived,  escaped  by 
a  precipitate  flight  the  agonies  of  grief.  In  my  younger 
son,  who  died  at  five  years  old,  I  lost  one  light  of  my 
eyes.  I  have  no  ambition  to  make  much  of  my  mis- 
fortunes, or  to  exaggerate  the  reasons  which  I  have  for 
sorrow ;  would  that  I  had  means  of  assuaging  it !  But 
how  can  I  conceal  his  lovely  countenance,  his  endear- 
ing talk,  his  sparkling  wit,  and  (what  I  feel  can  scarcely 
be  believed)  his  calm  and  deep  solidity  of  mind  ?  Had 
he  been  another's  child,  he  would  have  won  my  love. 
But  insidious  Fortune,  in  order  to  inflict  on  me  severer 
anguish,  made  him  more  affectionate  to  me  than  to  his 
nurses,  his  grandmother,  who  brought  him  up,  and 
all  who  generally  gain  the  attachment  of  children  of 
that  age. 

"  Thankful,  therefore,  do  I  feel  for  that  sorrow  in 


214  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

which  but  a  few  months  before  I  was  plunged  by  the 
loss  of  his  matchless,  his  inestimable  mother ;  one  only 
hope,  support,  and  consolation,  had  remained  in  my 
Quintilian.  He  had  not,  like  my  younger  son,  just  put 
forth  his  early  blossoms,  but,  entering  on  his  tenth  year, 
had  shown  mature  and  well-set  fruit.  In  him  I  dis- 
cerned such  vigor  of  intellect,  such  a  zeal  for  study, 
which  never  required  pressing,  but  also  such  upright- 
ness, filial  affection,  refinement,  and  generosity,  as  fur- 
nished grounds  for  apprehending  the  thunder-stroke 
which  has  fallen.  He  possessed  also  those  gifts  which 
are  accidental — a  clear  and  melodious  voice,  a  sweet 
pronunciation,  a  correct  enunciation  of  every  letter 
both  in  Greek  and  Latin ;  he  possessed  also  the  far 
higher  qualities  of  constancy,  earnestness,  and  firmness 
to  bear  sorrow  and  to  resist  fear.  O  dearest  object  of 
my  disappointed  hopes !  could  I  behold  thy  glazing 
eyes,  thy  fleeting,  when  life  began  to  fail!  could  I 
embrace  thy  cold  and  lifeless  form,  and  live  to  drink 
again  the  common  air  !  Well  do  I  deserve  these  ago- 
nizing thoughts,  these  tortures  which  I  endure  !  " 

It  is  the  touching  eloquence  of  one  who  could  not 
write  otherwise  than  gracefully. 

Aurelius  Cornelius  Celsus,  a  physician,  who  lived 
probably  under  the  reign  of  Tiberius.  The  only  work 
extant  from  him  is  a  treatise,  in  eight  books,  on  medi- 
cine, written  in  a  beautiful  Augustan  style,  and  show- 
ing the  learning  of  Celsus  as  a  physician.  The  best 
evidence  of  the  merit  of  the  book  of  this  writer  is  that, 
in  our  days,  it  is  yet  a  text-book  found  in  the  hands 
of  many  pupils  of  medicine.  He  has  been  called  the 
Cicero  Medicorum. 


PROSE— PHILOSOPHERS  AND   GRAMMARIANS.         215 

Another  physician,  SCEIBONIUS  LARGUS  DESIGNATI- 
,  was  the  author  of  several  works,  one  of  which,  a 
large  collection  of  prescriptions,  is  extant. 

Pomponius  Mela  wrote,  under  the  reign  of  Claudius, 
a  geographical  book,  "  De  Situ  Orbis  Libri  III."  The 
book  is  systematic  and  learned.  The  simplicity  of  the 
style,  and  almost  Augustan  purity  of  the  Latinity,  pre- 
vent so  bare  a  skeleton  and  list  of  facts  from  being  dry 
and  uninteresting. 

L.  Junius  Moderatus  Columella  wrote  a  didactic  work, 
"  De  Re  Rustica,"  in  twelve  books,  the  tenth  of  which 
is  written  in  verse;  it  is  rather  metrical  prose  than 
poetry,  but  the  versification  is  correct,  and  the  whole 
work,  which  is  well  composed,  shows  great  fluency. 
Nothing  is  known  of  his  life. 

Sextus  Julius  Frontinus  deserves  a  place  among  the 
Roman  classical  writers  for  his  two  books  now  extant. 
The  first  is  on  military  tactics,  and  entitled  "  Strate- 
gematica  Libri  IV."  It  is  a  good  composition,  and 
a  very  valuable  work  to  the  antiquarian,  although  of 
no  practical  utility  to  the  tactician.  The  other  work, 
which  we  have  complete,  is  a  descriptive  architectural 
treatise,  in  two  books.  Besides  those  two  works,  we 
have  fragments  of  other  writings,  one  of  which  is  on 
surveying — "  Agri  Mensores,"  or  "  Rei  Agrariae  Scrip- 
tores."  They  were  scientific  and  jurisprudential  at 
the  same  time. 

Frontinus  occupied  several  offices  in  the  city,  un- 
der the  Emperor  Vespasian.  He  was  even  sent  to 
succeed  Cerialis,  as  governor  of  Britain,  by  this  same 
emperor.  He  died  in  the  year  106. 

With  Frontinus  ends  the  list  of  the  classical  writers 


216  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

in  the  Latin  language.  After  him  we  have  many  au- 
thors, but  few  of  them  could  imitate  the  literature  of 
the  Augustan  age.  The  brightest  stars  which  illumi- 
nated the  darkness  were  Aulus  Gellius,  Appuleius,  Pe- 
tronius,  Lactantius,  and  the  firat  Christian  writers. 


APPENDIX. 


ALTHOUGH  in  the  body  of  our  work  we  have  given  the  names 
of  the  principal  writers  who  belong  to  the  period  of  Greek  clas- 
sical literature,  still  we  have  deemed  it  well  to  insert,  by  way  of 
appendix,  a  short  notice  of  a  few  authors  of  a  much  later  era, 
but  whose  works  nevertheless  are,  on  account  of  their  intrinsic 
merit,  justly  numbered  among  the  classics,  and,  as  such,  read  in 
many  schools  and  colleges. 

As  the  first  of  this  number  we  may  mention  TheocritUB,  the 
most  celebrated  of  bucolic  poets,  who  nourished  at  Syracuse,  in 
Sicily,  B.  o.  270.  In  his  youth  he  received  instructions  under  able 
masters.  Subsequently  he  became  a  friend  of  Aratus,  a  Greek 
poet  of  Cilicia,  and  lived  part  of  his  time  at  Alexandria,  and  the 
rest  at  Syracuse.  The  circumstances  of  his  death  are  not  pre- 
cisely known,  but  it  has  been  supposed,  without  sufficient  rea- 
son, however,  that  he  was  strangled  by  order  of  Hiero,  King  of 
Sicily,  in  revenge  for  some  pieces  of  a  satirical  nature  which  the 
poet  had  written  against  him.  Theocritus  is  distinguished  chiefly 
for  his  bucolic  poems,  all  of  which  were  written  in  the  Dorian 
dialect. 

Fifty-one  poems  are  attributed  to  him,  thirty  of  which — be- 
longing to  the  bucolic  order — are  entitled  "  Idyls,"  and  the  re- 
mainder "Epigrams."  Theocritus  has  had  many  imitators,  both 
among  the  ancients  and  moderns,  but  in  grace  and  naivete  of  dic- 
tion he  stands  yet  unrivalled.  He  is  sometimes  indelicate  in  his 
expressions,  but  otherwise  his  works  are  faithful  copies  of  nature, 
10 


218  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE. 

characterized  by  a  picturesque  description  of  scenery,  and  a  rich- 
ness and  delicacy  of  fancy  rarely  to  be  met  with  in  any  other 
author. 

Lucian,  a  distinguished  writer,  born  at  Samosata,  in  Syria, 
lived  several  centuries  later  than  Theocritus,  but  is  notwithstand- 
ing justly  entitled  to  a  prominent  place  among  the  classic  authors 
of  Greek  literature.  The  age  in  which  he  flourished  is  not  known, 
but  it  is  generally  believed  that  he  lived  about  the  time  of  Trajan, 
although  many  are  of  opinion  that  he  was  of  a  much  later  date. 
He  was  at  first  an  advocate  at  Antioch,  but,  having  relinquished 
this  profession,  he  devoted  himself  to  literary  pursuits,  in  which 
he  soon  attained  great  celebrity.  He  had  a  particular  love  for 
travel,  and  at  an  early  age  visited  Greece,  Asia,  and  Gaul,  and  in 
this  last-mentioned  country  he  remained  in  the  capacity  of  teacher 
of  rhetoric,  until  he  was  about  forty  years  of  age.  After  leaving 
Gaul  he  visited  Italy,  and  many  other  countries,  particularly  the 
provinces  of  Greece  and  Asia  Minor,  He  lived,  however,  a  greater 
part  of  his  time  in  Athens,  whore  he  died,  at  a  very  advanced  age. 
He  wrote  numerous  works  on  various  subjects,  the  greater  part 
of  which  were  in  the  form  of  dialogue.  They  were  nearly  all  of 
a  satirical  nature,  and  were  directed  against  the  prevailing  vices 
and  follies  of  the  day. 

That  Lucian  was  endowed  with  the  true  spirit  of  satire,  and 
a  fund  of  humor  rarely  possessed  by  any  other  writer,  is  fully 
evinced  by  his  works;  and,  were  we  to  judge  from  his  style, 
which  was  formed  upon  that  of  the  best  models  of  Greek  genius, 
we  would  be  led  to  believe  that  he  flourished  in  the  classic  era 
of  Greek  literature. 

Plutarch,  a  native  of  Oheronea,  in  Boeotia,  was  born  about 
the  middle  of  the  first  century ;  the  exact  period  of  his  birth  is 
unknown.  He  commenced  his  studies  when  quite  young,  and, 
as  he  enjoyed  the  instructions  of  excellent  teachers,  he  made 
rapid  progress  in  the  various  departments  of  belles-lettres  and 
mathematics.  At  a  very  early  age  he  was  employed  by  his  fel- 
low-citizens in  negotiations  with  the  neighboring  cities,  and  this 
was  subsequently  the  motive  of  his  visiting  Eome,  where,  when 
his  public  business  did  not  interfere,  he  gave  lectures  in  philos- 
ophy and  eloquence.  He  did  not,  however,  remain  at  Borne  for 


APPENDIX.  219 

any  length  of  time,  but  returned  to  his  native  land,  where  he  was 
incessantly  engaged  in  the  services  of  Ms  countrymen.  The  works 
of  Plutarch  are  very  voluminous,  hut  the  one  for  which  he  is  most 
celebrated  is  "  The  Parallel  Lives."  This  contains  short  biograph- 
ical notices  of  forty-four  individuals — the  most  illustrious  of  the 
ancient  Greeks  and  Komans — in  such  a  manner  that  a  Greek  is 
always  compared  with  a  Roman.  Besides  these  he  wrote  five 
isolated  biographies,  and  twelve  or  fourteen  others  which  are 
lost.  These  works  are  no  less  interesting  than  instructive,  and 
for  the  historian  they  are  invaluable,  as  they  contain  many  facts 
which  canuot  be  found  in  any  other  history.  He  is,  however,  in 


these  works  chargeable  with  one  great  defect,  viz.,  an  entire  neg- 
lect of  all  chronological  order — a  fault  which  occasions  in  the 
mind  of  the  reader  only  a  confused  impression  of  what  he  has 
gone  over.  Besides  these,  Plutarch  was  the  author  of  several 
other  works,  some  of  which  were  of  an  historical  and  others  of 
a  philosophical  nature ;  but,  as  they  are  comparatively  only  of 
minor  importance,  we  shall  pass  them  by  without  further  com- 
ment. 

St  John  Chrysostom.— "  The  Homily  "  which  St.  John  pro- 
nounced in  favor  of  Eutropius  is  translated  in  many  colleges,  and 
may  surely  be  considered  as  a  masterpiece  of  eloquence.  How- 


220  ROMAN  CLASSICAL  LITERATURE.. 

ever,  some  passages  show  bad  taste,  which  we  always  find  in  tho 
works  of  Greek  writers  who  do  not  belong  to  the  classical  period 
of  literature. 

Many  names  might  be  added,  but  we  had  to  confine  ourselves, 
as  we  have  said,  within  the  limits  of  what  may  be  strictly  called 
classical  literature. 


THE     BKD. 


D.  APPLETON  <k  CO: 8  PUBLICATIONS. 

Gerinania  and  Agricola  of  Caius  Cornelius 
Tacitus : 

With  Notes  for  Colleges.    By  W.  S.  TYLER,  Professor  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  Languages  in  Amherst  College.     12mo,  193  pages. 

Tacitus's  account  of  Germany  and  life  of  Affricola  are  among  the  most  fascinating 
and  instructive  Latin  classics.  The  present  edition  has  been  prepared  expressly  for 
college  classes,  by  one  who  knows  what  they  need.  In  it  win  be  found:  1.  A  Latin 
text,  approved  by  all  the  more  recent  editors.  2.  A  copious  fflnstration  of  the  gram- 
matical constructions,  as  well  as  of  the  rhetorical  and  poetical  usages  peculiar  to  Taci- 
tus. In  a  writer  so  concise  it  has  been  deemed  necessary  to  pay  particular  regard  to 
the  connection  of  thought,  and  to  the  particles  as  the  hinges  of  that  connection,  3. 
Constant  comparisons  of  the  writer  with  the  authors  of  the  Augustan  age,  for  the  pur- 
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Boman  people.  4.  An  embodiment  in  small  compass  of  the  most  valuable  labors  of  such 
recent  German  critics  as  Grimm,  Gfinther,  Gruber,  KiessHng,  Dronke,  Eoth,  Kuperti, 
«nd  Walther. 

From,  PEOP.  LINCOLN,  of  Brown  University. 

"  I  have  found  the  book  in  daily  use  with  my  class  of  very  great  service,  very  practi- 
cal, and  well  suited  to  the  wants  of  students.  I  am  very  much  pleased  with  the  Life 
•f  Tacitus  and  the  Introduction,  and  indeed  with  the  literary  character  of  th«  book 
throughout.  We  shall  make  the  book  a  part  of  our  Latin  course." 


The  History  of  Tacitus : 

By  W.  S.  TYLER.     With  Notes  for  Colleges.     12mo,  453  pages. 

The  text  of  Tacitus  is  here  presented  in  a  form  as  correct  as  a  comparison  of  the  best 
editions  can  make  it.  Notes  are  appended  for  the  student's  use,  which  contain  not  only 
the  grammatical,  but  likewise  all  the  geographical,  archaeological,  and  historical  illustra- 
tions that  are  necessary  to  render  the  author  intelligible.  It  has  been  the  constant  aim 
of  the  editor  to  carry  students  beyond  the  dry  details  of  grammar  and  lexicography, 
and  introduce  them  to  a  fianffiar  acquaintance  and  lively  sympathy  with  the  author  and 
his  times.  Indexes  to  the  notes,  and  to  the  names  of  persons  and  places,  render  refer- 
ence easy. 

From  PKOP.  HACKETT,  of  Newton  Theological  Seminary. 

"The  notes  appear  to  me  to  be  even  more  neat  and  elegant  than  those  on  the  'Ger- 
mania  and  Agricola.1  They  come  as  near  to  sueh  notes  as  I  would  be  glad  to  write  my- 
•«l/on  a  classic,  as  almost  any  thing  that  I  have  yet  seen." 


D.  APPLETON  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

The  Works  of  Horace. 

With  English  Notes,  for  the  use  of  Schools  and  Colleges.  By  J.  I. 
LINCOLN,  Professor  of  the  Lathi  Language  and  Literature  hi 
Brown  University.  12mo,  575  pages. 

The  text  of  this  edition  is  mainly  that  of  Orelli,  the  most  important  readings  of  other 
•ritics  being  given  in  foot-notes.  The  volume  is  introduced  with  a  biographical  sketch 
of  Horace  and  a  critique  on  his  writings,  which  enable  the  student  to  enter  intelligently 
on  his  work.  Peculiar  grammatical  constructions,  as  well  as  geographical  and  historical 
allusions,  are  explained  in  notes,  which  are  just  full  enough  to  aid  the  pupil,  to  excite 
him  to  gain  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  author,  and  awaken  in  him  a  taste  for  philo- 
logical studies,  without  taking  all  labor  off  his  hands.  While  the  chief  aim  has  been  to 
impart  a  clear  idea  of  Latin  Syntax  as  exhibited  in  the  text,  it  has  also  been  a  cherished 
object  to  take  advantage  of  the  means  so  variously  and  richly  furnished  by  Horace  for 
promoting  the  poetical  taste  and  literary  culture  of  the  student. 

From  an  article  by  PKOF.  BAHB,  of  the  University  qf  Heidelberg,  in  the  Heidelberg 
Annals  of  Literature. 

"  There  are  already  several  American  editions  of  Horace,  intended  for  the  use  ol 
schools ;  of  one  of  these,  which  has  passed  through  many  editions,  and  has  also  been 
widely  circulated  in  England,  mention  has  been  formerly  made  in  this  journal ;  but  that 
(nit'  we  may  not  put  upon  an  equality  with  the  one  now  before  us.  inasmuch  as  this  has 
taken  a  different  stand-point,  which  may  serve  as  a  sign  of  progress  in  this  department 
of  study.  The  editor  has,  it  is  true,  also  intended  his  work  for  the  use  of  schools,  and 
has  sought  to  adapt  it,  in  all  its  parts,  to  such  a  use ;  but  still,  without  losing  sight  of 
this  purpose,  he  has  proceeded  throughout  with  more  independence.  In  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  Notes,  the  editor  has  faithfully  observed  the  principles  (laid  down  in  his  pref- 
ace); the  explanations  of  the  poet's  words  commend  themselves  by  a  compressed 
brevity  which  limits  itself  to  what  is  most  essential,  and  by  a  sharp  precision  of  expres- 
sion ;  and  references  to  other  passages  of  the  poet,  and  also  to  grammars,  dictioiiarU*, 
etc.,  are  not  wanting." 


Sallust's  Jugurtha  and  Catiline. 

With  Notes  and  a  Vocabulary.    By  NOBLE  BUTLER  and  MINARD 
STURGIS.     12mo,  897  pages. 

The  editors  have  spent  a  vast  amount  of  time  and  labor  in  correcting  the  text,  by  a 
tomparison  of  the  most  improved  German  and  English  editions.  It  is  believed  that  this 
will  be  found  superior  to  any  edition  hitherto  published  in  this  country.  In  accordance 
with  their  chronological  order,  the  "Jugurtha"  precedes  the  "Catiline."  The  Notes  ar« 
copious  and  tersely  expressed;  they  display  not  only  fine  scholarship,  but  (what  Is 
quite  as  necessary  In  such  a  book)  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  difficulties  which  the  stu- 
dent encounters  In  reading  this  author,  and  the  aids  that  he  requires.  The  Vocabulary 
was  prepared  by  the  late  WILLIAM  H.  G.  BCTLBJI.  It  win  be  found  an  able  and  faithful 
jarformance. 


D.  APPLET  ON  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


Virgil's  JEneid. 


With  Explanatory  Notes.  By  HENRY  S.  FRIEZE,  Professor  of 
Latin  in  the  State  University  of  Michigan.  Illustrated.  12mo, 
598  pages. 

The  appearance  of  this  edition  of  Virgil's  JEneid  will,  it  is  believed, 
be  hailed  with  delight  by  all  classical  teachers.  Neither  expense  nor 
pains  have  been  spared  to  clothe  the  great  Lathi  epic  hi  a  fitting  dress. 
The  type  is  unusually  large  and  distinct,  and  errors  in  the  text,  so  an- 
noying to  the  learner,  have  been  carefully  avoided.  The  work  contains 
eighty-five  engravings,  which  delineate  the  usages,  costumes,  weapons, 
arts,  and  mythology  of  the  ancients  with  a  vividness  that  can  be  attained 
only  by  pictorial  illustrations.  The  great  feature  of  this  edition  is  the 
scholarly  and  judicious  commentary  furnished  hi  the  appended  Notes. 
The  author  has  here  endeavored  not  to  show  his  learning,  but  to  supply 
such  practical  aid  as  will  enable  the  pupil  to  understand  and  appreciate 
what  he  reads.  The  notes  are  just  full  enough,  thoroughly  explaining 
the  most  difficult  passages,  while  they  are  not  so  extended  as  to  take  all 
labor  off  the  pupil's  hands.  Properly  used,  they  cannot  fail  to  impart  an 
intelligent  acquaintance  with  the  syntax  of  the  language.  In  a  word,  this 
work  is  commended  to  teachers  as  the  most  elegant,  accurate,  interesting, 
and  practically  useful  edition  of  the  ^Eneid  that  has  yet  been  published. 

From  JOHN  H.  BEtnnraE,  President  of  Hiwasse  College. 

"The  typography,  paper,  and  binding  of  Virgil's  ^Eneid,  by  Prof.  Frieze,  are  all  that 
need  be  desired;  while  the  learned  and  judicious  notes  appended,  are  very  valuable  in- 
deed." 

From  Principal  of  Piedmont  (Va.)  Academy. 

"I  have  to  thank  you  for  a  copy  of  Prof.  Frieze's  edition  of  the  ^Ineid.  I  have  been 
exceedingly  pleased  in  my  examination  of  it  The  size  of  the  type  from  which  the  text 
Is  printed,  and  the  faultless  execution,  leave  nothing  to  be  desired  in  these  respects. 
The  adherence  to  a  standard  text  throughout,  increases  the  value  of  this  edition." 

From  D.  G.  MOORE,  Principal  U.  High  School,  Sutland. 

"The  copy  of  Frieze's  'Virgil'  forwarded  to  me  was  duly  received.  It  is  so  evi- 
dently superior  to  any  of  the  other  editions,  that  I  shall  unhesitatingly  adopt  it  in  mf 


D.  APPLETON  &  CO:S  PUBLICATIONS. 

Select  Orations  of  M.  Tullius  Cicero  : 

With  Notes,  for  the  use  of  Schools  and  Colleges.  By  E.  A.  JOHN- 
SON",  Professor  of  Latin  in  the  University  of  New  York.  12mo, 
459  pages. 

This  edition  of  Cicero's  Select  Orations  possesses  some  special  advantages  for  the  stu- 
dent which  are  both  new  and  important  It  is  the  only  edition  which  contains  the  im. 
proved  text  that  has  been  prepared  by  a  recent  careful  collation  and  correct  deciphering 
of  the  best  manuscripts  of  Cicero's  writings.  It  is  the  work  of  the  celebrated  Oreffl,  Mad- 
vig,  and  Klotz,  and  has  been  done  since  the  appearance  of  Orelli's  complete  edition.  The 
Notes,  by  Professor  Johnson,  of  the  New  York  University,  have  been  mostly  selected, 
with  great  care,  from  the  best  German  authors,  as  well  as  the  English  edition  of  Arnold. 

From  THOMAS  CHASE,  Tutor  in  Latin  in  Harvard  University. 
"  An  edition  of  Cicero  Hke  Johnson's  has  long  been  wanted ;  and  the  excellence  of  the 
text,  the  illustrations  of  words,  particles,  and  pronouns,  and  the  explanation  of  various 
points  of  construction  and  interpretation,  bear  witness  to  the  Editor's  familiarity  with 
some  of  the  most  important  results  of  modern  scholarship,  and  entitle  his  work  to  a  Iarg« 
share  of  public  favor." 

"  It  seems  to  us  an  improvement  upon  any  edition  of  these  Orations  that  has  been 
published  in  this  country,  and  will  be  found  a  valuable  aid  in  their  studies  to  the  lovtr» 
of  classical  literature."—  Troy  Daily  IVJUff. 

Cicero  de  Officiis : 

With  English  Notes,  mostly  translated  from  ZTTMPT  and  BONNKLL.  By 
THOMAS  A.  THACHER,  of  Yale  College.  12mo,  194  pages. 

In  this  edition,  a  few  historical  notes  have  been  introduced  in  cases  where  the  Dic- 
tionary in  common  use  has  not  been  found  to  contain  the  desired  information ;  the  design 
of  which  is  to  aid  the  learner  in  understanding  the  contents  of  the  treatises,  the  thoughts 
and  reasoning  of  the  author,  to  explain  grammatical  difficulties,  and  inculcate  a  knowl- 
edge of  grammatical  principles.  The  Editor  has  aimed  throughout  to  guide  rather  than 
cany  the  learner  through  difficulties;  requiring  of  him  more  study,  in  consequence  of 
his  help,  than  he  would  have  devoted  to  the  book  without  It. 

From  M.  L.  STOKVKB,  Professor  of  the  Latin  Language  and  Literature  in  Pennsyl- 
vania College. 

"I  have  examined  with  much  pleasure  Prof.  Thacher's  edition  of  Cicero  de  Officiis, 
and  am  convinced  of  its  excellence.  The  Notes  have  been  prepared  with  great  care  and 
good  judgment  Practical  knowledge  of  the  wants  of  the  student  has  enabled  the  Editor 
to  furnish  just  the  kind  of  assistance  required ;  grammatical  difficulties  are  removed,  and 
the  obscurities  of  the  treatise  are  explained,  the  interest  of  the  learner  is  elicited,  and  his 
Industry  directed  rather  than  superseded.  There  can  be  but  one  opinion  with  regard  to 
the  merits  of  the  work,  and  I  trust  that  Professor  Thacher  will  be  disposed  to  continue 
kta  labors  so  carefully  commenced,  in  this  department  of  classical  learning." 


D.  APPLETON  &  COSS  PUBLICATIONS. 

Lincoln's  Livy. 

Selections  from  the  first  Five  Books,  together  with  the  Twenty-First 
and  Twenty-Second  Books  entire ;  with  a  Plan  of  Rome,  a  Map 
of  the  passage  of  Hannibal,  and  English  Notes  for  the  use  of 
Schools.  By  J.  L.  LINCOLN,  Professor  of  the  Latin  Language 
and  Literature  hi  Brown  University.  12mo,  329  pages. 

The  publiihers  believe  that  in  this  edition  of  Livy  a  want  is  supplied  which  has  been 
universally  felt ;  there  being  previous  to  this  no  American  edition  furnished  with  the  re- 
quisite aids  for  the  successful  study  of  this  Latin  author.  The  text  is  chiefly  that  of  Al- 
schefski,  which  is  now  generally  received  by  the  best  critics.  The  notes  have  been  pre- 
pared with  special  reference  to  the  grammatical  study  of  the  language,  and  the  illustration 
of  its  forms,  constructions,  and  idioms,  as  used  by  Livy.  They  will  not  be  found  to  foster 
habits  of  dependence  in  the  student,  by  supplying  Indiscriminate  translation  or  unneces- 
sary assistance;  but  come  to  his  help  only  in  such  parts  as  it  is  fan-  to  suppose  he  can- 
not master  by  his  own  exertions.  They  also  embrace  afl  necessary  information  relating 
to  history,  geography,  and  antiquities. 

Lincoln's  Livy  has  been  highly  commended  by  critics,  and  is  used  in  nearly  all  th« 
colleges  in  the  country. 

From  PEOF.  ANDERSON,  of  WatervOZe  College. 

"A  careful  examination  of  several  portions  of  your  work  has  convinced  me  that,  for 
the  use  of  students,  it  is  altogether  superior  to  any  edition  of  Livy  with  which  I  am  ac- 
quainted. Among  its  excellences  you  will  permit  me  to  name  the  close  attention  given 
to  particles,  to  the  subjunctive  mood,  the  constant  reference  to  the  grammars,  the  dis- 
crimination of  words  nearly  synonymous,  and  the  care  in  giving  the  localities  mentioned 
in  the  text.  The  book  win  be  hereafter  used  in  our  college." 


Beza's  Latin  Version  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

12mo,  291  pages. 

The  now-acknowledged  propriety  of  giving  students  of  langnages  familiar  works  for 
translation— thus  adopting  in  the  schools  the  mode  by  which  the  child  first  learns  to  talk 
—has  induced  the  publication  of  this  new  American  edition  of  Beza's  Latin  Version  of 
the  New  Testament  Ever  since  its  first  appearance,  this  work  has  kept  its  place  in  the 
general  esteem ;  while  more  recent  versions  have  been  so  strongly  tinged  with  the  pecu- 
liar views  of  the  translators  as  to  make  them  acceptable  to  particular  classes  only.  The 
editor  has  exerted  himself  to  render  the  present  edition  worthy  of  patronage  by  its  su- 
perior accuracy  and  neatness ;  and  the  publishers  flatter  themselves  that  the  pains  be- 
stowed will  insuro  for  it  a  preference  over  ether  editions. 


D.  APPLETON  (t  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

Cesar's  Commentaries  on  the  Gallic  War. 

With  English  Notes,  Critical  and  Explanatory ;  a  Lexicon,  Geographi- 
cal and  Historical  Indexes,  a  Map  of  Gaul,  etc.  By  Rev.  J.  A. 
SPENCER,  D.  D.  12mo,  408  pages. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  volume,  great  care  has  been  taken  to  adapt  it  to  every  re- 
spect to  the  wants  of  the  young  student,  to  make  it  a  means  at  the  same  time  of  advan- 
cing him  to  a  thorough  knowledge  of  Latin,  and  inspiring  him  with  a  desire  for  further 
acquaintance  with  the  classics  of  the  language.  Dr.  Spencer  has  not,  like  some  commen- 
tators, given  an  abundance  of  help  on  the  easy  passages,  and  allowed  the  difficult  ones 
to  speak  for  themselves.  His  Notes  are  on  those  parts  on  which  the  pupil  wants  them, 
and  explain,  not  only  grammatical  difficulties,  but  allusions  of  every  kind  to  the  text  A 
well-drawn  sketch  of  Caesar's  life,  a  Map  of  the  region  to  which  his  campaigns  were  car- 
ried on,  and  a  Vocabulary,  which  removes  the  necessity  of  using  a  large  dictionary  and 
the  waste  of  time  consequent  thereon,  enhance  the  value  of  the  volume  to  no  small  de- 
gree. 

Quintus  Curtius : 

Life  and  Exploits  of  Alexander  the  Great.  Edited  and  illustrated 
with  English  Notes.  By  WILLIAM  HENRY  CROSBY.  12mo, 
885  pages. 

Curtius's  History  of  Alexander  the  Great,  though  little  used  to  the  schools  of  this 
country,  to  England  and  on  the  Continent  holds  a  high  place  to  the  estimation  of  classi- 
cal instructors.  The  interesting  character  of  its  subject,  the  elegance  of  its  style,  and  the 
purity  of  its  moral  sentiments,  ought  to  place  it  at  least  on  a  par  with  Caesar's  Commen- 
taries or  Sallust's  Histories.  The  present  edition,  by  the  late  Professor  of  Latin  to  Rut- 
gers College,  Is  unexceptionable  to  typography,  convenient  in  form,  scholarly  and  prac- 
tical to  its  notes,  and  altogether  an  admirable  text-book  for  classes  preparing  for  col- 
lege. 

From  PROF.  OWSN,  of  Hit  New  fork  Free  Academy. 

"It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  add  my  testimonial  to  the  many  you  are  receivinp  in 
fcvor  of  the  beautiful  and  well-edited  edition  of  Qutatns  Curtius,  by  Prof.  Wm.  Henry 
Crosby.  It  is  seldom  that  a  classical  book  is  submitted  to  me  for  examination,  to  which 
I  can  give  so  hearty  a  recommendation  as  to  this.  The  external  appearance  is  attractive ; 
the  paper,  type,  and  binding,  being  just  what  a  text-book  should  bo,  neat,  clear,  and  du- 
rable. The  notes  are  brief,  pertinent,  scholar-like,  neither  too  exuberant  nor  too  meagre, 
but  happily  exemplifying  the  golden  mean  so  desirable  and  yet  so  very  difficult  of  at- 


D.  APPLETON  <k  CO: 8  PUBLICATIONS. 

A  Latin  Grammar  for  Schools  and  Colleges. 

By  A.  BARENESS,  PH.  D.,  Professor  in  Brown  University. 


To  explain  the  general  plan  of  the  work,  the  Publishers  ask  the  atten- 
tion of  teachers  to  the  following  extracts  from  the  Preface : 

1.  This  volume  is  designed  to  present  a  systematic  arrangement  of  the 
great  facts  and  laws  of  the  Latin  language ;  to  exhibit  not  only  grammat- 
ical forms  and  constructions,  but  also  those  vital  principles  which  under- 
lie, control,  and  explain  them. 

2.  Designed  at  once  as  a  text-book  for  the  class-room,  and  a  book  of 
reference  in  study,  it  aims  to  introduce  the  beginner  easily  and  pleasantly 
to  the  first  principles  of  the  language,  and  yet  to  make  adequate  provi- 
sion for  the  wants  of  the  more  advanced  student. 

3.  By  brevity  and  conciseness  hi  the  choice  of  phraseology  and  com- 
pactness in  the  arrangement  of  forms  and  topics,  the  author  has  endeav- 
ored to  compress  within  the  limits  of  a  convenient  manual  an  amount  of 
carefully-seleoted  grammatical  facts,  which  would  otherwise  fill  a  much 
larger  volume. 

4.  He  has,  moreover,  endeavored  to  present  the  whole  subject  in  the 
light  of  modern  scholarship.     Without   encumbering  his  pages  with  any 
unnecessary  discussions,  he  has  aimed  to  enrich  them  with  the  practical 
results  of  the  recent  labors  in  the  field  of  philology. 

5.  Syntax  has  received  in  every  part  special  attention.     An  attempt 
has  been  made  to  exhibit,  as  clearly  as  possible,  that  beautiful  system  of 
laws  which  the  genius  of  the  language — that  highest  of  all  grammatical 
authority— has  created  for  itself. 

6.  Topics  which  require  extended  illustration  are  first  presented  in 
their  completeness  in  general  outline,  before  the  separate  points  are  dis- 
cussed in  detail     Thus  a  single  page  often  foreshadows  all  the  leading 
features  of  an  extended  discussion,  imparting  a  completeness  and  vividness 
to  the  impression  of  the  learner,  impossible  under  any  other  treatment. 

7.  Special  care  has  been  taken  to  explain  and  illustrate  with  the  requi- 
site fulness  all  difficult  and  intricate  subjects.     The  Subjunctive  Mood— 
that  severest  trial  of  the  teacher's  patience — has  been  presented,  it  ia 
hoped,  in  a  form  at  once  simple  and  comprehensive. 


D.  APPLET  ON  &  CO^S  PUBLICATIONS. 

Arnold's  Greek  Course. 

Revised,  Corrected,  and  Improved,  by  the  Rev.  J.  A.  SPENCER, 
D.  D.,  late  Professor  of  Latin  and  Oriental  Languages  in  Burling- 
ton College,  N.  J. 

FIRST  GREEK  BOOK,  on  the  Plan  of  the  First  Latin  Book.    12mo,  254  pages. 
PRACTICAL  INTRODUCTION  TO  GREEK  PROSE  COMPOSITION.    12mo,  287 

pages. 

SECOND  PART  TO  THE  ABOVE.    12mo,  248  pages. 
GREEK  READING  BOOK.    Containing  the  substance  of  the  Practical  Introduction  to 

Greek  Construing,  and  a  Treatise  on  the  Greek  Particles ;  also,  copious  selections 

from  Greek  Authors,  with  Critical  and  Explanatory  English  Notes,  and  a  Lexicon 

12mo,  618  pages. 

A  complete,  thorough,  practical,  and  easy  Greek  course  is  here  presented.  The  be- 
ginner commences  with  the  "  First  Book,"  in  which  the  elementary  principles  of  the  lan- 
guage are  unfolded,  not  In  abstract  language,  difficult  both  to  comprehend  and  to  re- 
member, but  as  practically  applied  in  sentences.  Throughout  the  whole,  the  pupil  sees 
just  where  he  stands,  and  is  taught  to  use  and  apply  what  he  learns.  His  progress  is, 
therefore,  as  rapid  as  it  is  intelligent  and  pleasant  There  is  no  unnecessary  verbiage, 
nor  is  the  pupil's  attention  diverted  from  what  is  really  important  by  a  moss  of  minor 
details.  It  is  the  experience  of  teachers  who  use  this  book,  that  with  it  a  given  amount 
of  Greek  Grammar  can  be  imparted  to  a  pupil  in  a  shorter  time  and  with  far  les*  trouble 
than  with  any  other  text-book. 

The  "First  Book"  may  with  advantage  be  followed  by  the  "Introduction  to  Greek 
Prose  Composition."  The  object  of  this  work  is  to  enable  the  student,  as  soon  as  he  can 
decline  and  conjugate  with  tolerable  facility,  to  translate  simple  sentences  after  given  ex- 
amples and  with  given  words ;  the  principles  employed  being  those  of  imitation  and  very 
frequent  repetition.  It  is  at  once  a  Syntax,  a  Vocabulary,  and  an  Exercise-book.  The 
"Second  Part"  carries  the  subject  further,  unfolding  the  most  complicated  constructions, 
and  the  nicest  points  of  Latin  Syntax.  A  Key  is  provided  for  the  teacher's  use. 

The  "  Reader,"  besides  extracts  judiciously  selected  from  the  Greek  classics,  contains 
valuable  instructions  to  guide  the  learner  in  translating  and  construing,  and  a  complete 
exposition  of  the  particles,  their  signification  and  government.  It  is  a  fitting  sequel  to 
the  earlier  parts  of  the  course,  everywhere  showing  the  hand  of  an  acute  critic,  an  ac- 
complished scholar,  and  an  experienced  teacher. 

From  the  REV.  DB.  COLEMAN,  Professor  of  Greek  and  Latin,  Princeton,  JV.  J. 

"  I  can,  from  the  most  satisfactory  experience,  bear  testimony  to  the  excellence  of 
your  series  of  Text-Books  for  Schools.  I  am  in  the  daily  use  of  Arnold's  Latin  and 
Greek  Exercises,  and  consider  them  decidedly  tuperior  to  any  other  Elementary  Works 
in  thoee  language*. ' 


O/.-D 
C  A  f^ 


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